Monday, March 13, 2000
Schools work to salvage students
N. Ky. programs thrive and grow
BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COLD SPRING — Tara Born skipped school so much that last fall the 17-year-old discovered she had enough credits to be only a high school freshman, not a senior preparing to graduate.
Ryan Brooks works on an experiment in math and science class at the Learning Academy.
(Patrick Reddy photo)
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Her grades were all Fs. She was suspended several times and was in danger of being expelled.
In a salvage operation, Campbell County High sent her to an alternative school here operated by the Learning Academy.
It's one of the programs for academically endangered students in 10 Northern Kentucky school districts.
“We don't want to lose anyone anymore,” said Bernard Sandfoss, Southgate schools superintendent. “If we lose them and throw them out, they become a burden to the community.”
Tara said after a couple semesters, it's working for her. She doesn't play hooky; she comes to school because she can do the work. “I'm actually making good grades now,” she said with a smile. “I have three Cs, an A and a B.”
It is unclear when she will graduate.
Stories such as Tara's are the reason seven alternative education academies have opened or are expanding in Northern Kentucky in the past three years. Ohio, which has experienced failures with a similar program, is preparing to try again.
In Northern Kentucky alternative centers, the smaller classes and more individualized attention help failing students succeed, said Carl Townsend, a language arts teacher at the Learning Academy in Cold Spring.
“Sometimes people look at the alternative school as a punishment,” Mr. Townsend said. “It isn't. We are not saying these students don't have problems, but we work with who they are and what they can do. The majority of the time, we get positive results.”
Sometimes the programs fail.
Cincinnati Public Schools' $3 million Project Succeed was deemed unsuccessful by the Ohio Department of Education and will close, school officials said in February. That North Fairmount school started three years ago for students with the most recurrent discipline problems.
But Project Succeed became a dumping ground and a November study found the school had little effect on students' behavior.
Educators complained mainstream schools were sending too many troubled students. Project Succeed housed as many as 460 students. There was a waiting list of up to 1,000 students. Class sizes were 15 to 20 students to each teacher.
Also, Project Succeed set a limit of six months to a year for students before they returned to their home schools. Even if a student still had problems, there was little or no follow up.
Now Cincinnati educators are planning two alternative schools: one for high school and one for elementary/middle-school students.
Each building will house up to 90 students and employ six to eight teachers.
Students will return to home schools only when teachers and social workers deem them ready. Teachers will be trained to reinforce the students' newly gained behavior management skills.
Northern Kentucky's four alternative programs operate seven schools. Learning Academy opened in Newport three years ago and has Cold Spring and Erlanger operations. Covington Academy of Renewal Education (CARE) is 2 years old. Boone County's Alternative Center in Florence and Kenton County's Park Hills Center are older and expanding.
Alternative education got a boost in Kentucky when the Safe Schools Act went into effect in January 1999, giving districts grants for troubled students and safety programs.
Once enrolled, students stay for various amounts of time, even more than a year, said Charles Ladwig, principal of Park Hills Center, which serves about 80 students. “Alternative school doesn't mean someone is bad. It just means they need a different way of learning,” he said.
That was true for Adam Clark, who felt anxious and afraid among the 1000-plus students at Campbell County High School. The 15-year-old Grants Lick student has been in and out of the Learning Academy.
He said recently that he hopes he can remain there for the rest of his high school career. His mother does, too.
“The larger numbers (of students) in the county high school really terrified him,” Mary Pat Clark said. “At the Learning Academy ... I think he feels safe.”
Kentucky's alternative schools are expensive. The Learning Academy budget is $450,000 for 65 students. Covington's academy costs $1.4 million a year for about 140 students, more than some entire school districts.
That pays for smaller classes and more adult supervision. Covington's academy aims for 10 students per class with up to three adults. Learning Academy's typical class has 15 students and a teacher and teacher's aide.
At Cold Spring Learning Academy on a recent Tuesday, all four classrooms were nearly silent. Just after 10 a.m., in Mr. Townsend's room, students worked with a teacher's aide on art work for St. Patrick's Day and Easter while Mr. Townsend huddled with a student in a corner, helping rewrite an essay.
Next door, Tara was writing on a computer.
Across the hall, another class read silently. It is a 15-minute daily exercise for each class, to improve vocabulary and encourage quiet time.
The only disruption came from Carmen Carlotta, a student seated at a desk in the hallway. He had been talking during reading time and was waiting to speak with academy Director Demetria Choice.
“We have good days and bad days,” Ms. Choice said. “There is never a bunch of chaos in these halls. People don't understand that. These are not bad kids. They just made silly mistakes.”
When classmates don't get along, teachers and counselors help them devise their own solutions.
“We try to teach the students to make the right decisions,” said Terri Cox-Cruey, Covington's special education director.
Of course, none of these strategies works if a student doesn't show up. That is why Ms. Choice and Ms. Cox-Cruey sometimes go to truant students' homes, get them out of bed and drive them to school.
One measure of success is how many students return to their original schools.
For instance, Covington schools expelled about 70 students two years ago. This year, with the alternative school option, that number is down to fewer than 10.
And at Covington academy, many of those youngsters are learning their lessons and returning to their home schools.
So far, only one backslider has been returned to the alternate program for a second go.
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