Alternative school is sometimes needed for at-risk youth, but the programs offered in these schools are aimed at helping those kids.
Patapsco River rapids near McKeldins Falls (Justin Taylor / Flickr)
An alternative school in Catonsville, Md., keeps at-risk students on track for graduation by incorporating a few outdoor activities into the school day, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Kids at the Catonsville Center for Alternative Studies have gotten into some trouble at their regular schools and have to attend an alternative school, at least temporarily. Offenses usually involve some violation of the student code of conduct, such as getting caught with marijuana, but some students are at the school because they need extra attention or supervision during the school day. Each case is different, and the time students spend in the school can vary from a few months to an entire academic year.
Sample activities:
- a 13-mile bike ride around the BWI airport
- a canoe trip on the Patapsco River
- rock climbing (indoors, but it’s like an outdoor activity)
- a field trip to Patapsco State Park
Activities like this, requiring some small measure of cooperation with peers, foster healthy relationships not only with fellow students but with teachers as well.
“That whole team-building aspect, of building trust with your peers and building trust with your teachers, is such a wonderful opportunity for these kids,” the paper quoted Leeann Schubert, director of alternative education for Baltimore County Public Schools as saying. “In general, they find someone here they can connect with, and that person helps them move forward and hopefully, get out of the juvenile justice system.”
When we interviewed Robert Dahm, who’s the principal at an alternative day school in Belleville, Ill., he said the same thing about kids making connections but related it more to course content than to outdoor activity.
“They are able to make connections between content areas; this is difficult (for them) to do in a traditional setting,” he wrote. On a day-to-day basis, “staff is engaged fully with students.”
He drew inspiration in establishing the alternative school program, he said, from the Good Work Project, which trains people at all levels, from elementary school through the professions, to reflect on the meaning of the work they do and on the benefit to society.
“We now have a system to intervene earlier and prescribe the Alternative Day School much like a doctor may prescribe a particular diet or medicine to someone who needs to lose weight or is suffering from an ailment that can be remedied if addressed early,” he wrote. “Early detection and treatment is good for education.”
Do you feel as though you have a life calling? How can friends help you achieve short-term and long-term goals? See Common Core speaking and listening standard SL.11-12.1.B for more information.