by John Dowd
“I’m just so excited about it!” exclaimed Stevensville High School Principal Eric Larson, when speaking about a new program the school will be providing. Larson has teamed up with English teacher Ayse Haxton to start a new Alternative Learning Center (ALC) program. Haxton will take the helm as the site coordinator for a program meant to try to reach students who may not fit into the traditional public school model.
The idea for the program stemmed from students who are unable to graduate for one life reason or another, that Larson explained are extremely intelligent, but may not enjoy the traditional school model. The program is built to help these students stay enrolled in school and to graduate, but with more flexible, yet more rigorous, parameters. “This is for that set of kids to whom the daily regular routine of school is difficult.”
The ALC program will utilize a more condensed curriculum, allowing students who enroll to attend school during either a morning or an afternoon session. According to Larson, many of these students would prefer to go straight into the workforce, and so could benefit from studying on their off hours, where their school schedule does not impact their work hours.
Larson explained that many of these students historically have left school before graduation and have gotten their GED, or Montana HiSET diploma. This new program would allow these students to remain in school, while working a day job and studying at their own pace and achieving their own goals.
Students that this program could reach may include those with at-home family issues, anxiety hurdles or even alternative life agendas like going straight into the work force. These may even be students for whom there is little to no interest in the social aspect of high school, yet are extremely intelligent.
“The problem is, everyone is going to want to be in this program,” added Larson. There are only 20 seats in the program, so there will be an application and interview process for students who would like to join. The process will mean that kids may have to prove their desire to stay in school and graduate, among other things. “One of the saddest things to hear is that they want to leave,” said Haxton, referring to students who have so much trouble with regular school that they would rather not be there. “This is our opportunity to make things right for those kids.” She explained that it can be hard to stay and deal with the many challenges that come with the age, especially if they do not have a good support system at home.
“I refuse to give up,” added Larson. He spoke specifically about a few kids that he knows have “amazing talent.” Larson explained that this program is for them, “ensuring that we have done everything we can… If I can give you education, I can give you opportunity.”
Students accepted into the program will need to face an accelerated curriculum that works at their pace. However, there will be a higher grade expectation attached. Students will need to achieve no less than 70% in all their classes. The ALC program will allow students to test out of topics that they are already proficient in, and it will allow them to work on difficult topics longer to ensure that they master the material. This program will address each student’s unique situation.
The school is renovating a new space for the program, which will have a different feeling environment than that of a regular school space. The new space will be in a renovated version of the old workout building, near the high school parking lot. The space will include its own restrooms, special workstations for students, as well as multimedia options and study platforms. Students will attend four days a week, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, during one of the two three-hour work sessions, morning or afternoon.
Stevensville is also considering reaching out to work in conjunction with the Hamilton School District, which already has a successful ALC program of its own. Some of the ideas floating around include splitting the county into north and south segments to reach out with the ALC program to a wider base of students and to share ALC resources between the districts.