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Skills Academy moving toward Sept. opening

Date: 6/22/2011

June 22, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

WEST SPRINGFIELD — The first group of West Springfield High School (WSHS) at-risk students toured the facilities at the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative (LPVEC) on Brush Hill Road on June 16, signaling the town's 21st Century Skills Academy — designed to help these students reach graduation — is that much closer to becoming a reality.

"They came up to check out the place and had a great time," Dr. Anne McKenzie, LPVEC executive director told Reminder Publications.

McKenzie is part of the planning committee — which includes WSHS staff, parents, community members and West Springfield Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Russell Johnston — that has been working on the curriculum for this alternate graduation track for students at risk of dropping out of high school. This initial phase of the project was funded through a $15,000 Innovation Schools Planning Grant for curriculum development awarded to West Springfield this spring by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

The School Department and the LPVEC will now apply for additional grant monies to fund the implementation of this new Skills Academy, which is slated to begin accepting students at the LPVEC site in September.

Johnston updated the School Committee on the progress of the Skills Academy at the committee's June 21 meeting. The public will have an opportunity to hear and see a complete presentation on this alternate graduation track at the committee's June 29 meeting, scheduled the Merrick Meeting Room of the Municipal Building, 26 Central St. That meeting will begin at 7 p.m.

Johnston said this alternate graduation path would work with a different set of credit and course requirements than the traditional high school graduation path.

"We're finding the credits and courses students will need to enter a two-year college upon graduation," Johnston said. "We have listened to [these at-risk] students and they have told us this is their ultimate goal."

Course work for these students will include a combination of classroom and online classes and "work based learning and service-based learning," according to Johnston. Credits for course work taken under this alternate graduation program would be awarded based on completion of each quarter, rather than the entire year.

For example, if a student is struggling with an English class and begins to fail, " they can shift gears, shift to a new class and not lose an entire year of credit," Johnston said. "We think this will keep them motivated and on track to earning credit for graduation."

McKenzie said the LPVEC would be providing the teaching staff and online courses for the first year of this new program. The LPVEC will also be providing 'access to mentors [and] social and emotional support services as needed," she added.

As new students enter the program in subsequent years, she said there would be "nothing to stop students from saying they wanted to take some classes at WSHS, some at the LPVEC and some online."

Johnston said the School Department and LPVEC would jointly be writing a grant proposal for $70,000 — the maximum amount that they can apply for — to fund the implementation of the Skills Academy.

He said that by partnering with the LPVEC to create this alternate graduation program, "we are able to use a lot of existing resources to make this [program] cost-effective and sustainable into the future."

McKenzie praised the work of Johnston and other West Springfield school administrators in developing this program for their students in danger of dropping out before completing high school.

"This is the vision of the superintendent, teachers and others," she said. "Nobody is telling them they have to do this. They are dedicated to seeing every student succeed."

Debbie Gardner can be reached by e-mail at debbieg@thereminder.com



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