Alternative Education Center offers help to students with problems

Students who attend the Alternative Education Center usually wind up there because of several factors -- attendance, behavior and academic performance. But once they're there, principal Scott McMullen says, they want to stay.

So far this year, McMullen said the school has served 170 students in grades six through 12, many of whom have "not had a lot of success in the main schools." Smaller class sizes and more individual attention helps students get their grades up and start experiencing success.

"Their self-confidence or self-concept is really improved, and it's carried over in the classroom and in the hallways," McMullen said.

Students are usually mandated to attend the Alternative Education Center for a year, or the rest of the school year if it has already begun, McMullen said.

Some are referred because of "really poor attendance" that may stem from the student not being comfortable in a larger learning environment. An academic factor could be shorter class periods at Central Junior High and Central High School, he said.

Class periods at those campuses are usually 42 to 43 minutes. The Alternative Education Center offers 90 minutes of instruction and a class size maximum of 15 students. The school has a staff of 17, including teachers, a counselor and transition coordinator, who helps students with job applications, internships, filling out college financial aid forms and college visits, McMullen said.

McMullen noted the Alternative Education Center curriculum is like an "extended wing of the high school," offering the same curriculum and extracurricular activities -- such as being on sports teams and attending prom -- if students meet the same criteria they would at Central -- good grades, good citizenship and good attendance.

Once students meet their academic requirements and don't have any attendance or behavior issues, they may return to their home school.

"But ... probably over 95 percent would rather stay here, and they choose to stay here, so we allow them to stay," McMullen said.

With behavior, McMullen said, when students aren't doing well academically, or if they're in a stressful environment, it's easier to act out instead of admitting your academic achievements are based on ability.

"We're fortunate to have a really good staff; they're very compassionate. It begins and ends with them," McMullen said. He added the school uses the Positive Behavior Intervention System, which uses positive reinforcement to get students back on track, or keep them there, by laying out clear expectations for all students whether it's in the classroom, on the playground or on the school bus.

"It's changed the culture of our school from it not being cool, or the 'in thing,' to be successful" to now students embracing being acknowledged for doing well academically or behaviorally, McMullen said.

A lot of students have told McMullen the center seems less like a school and more like a family environment, he said. A common bond for students tends to be poverty, although students face all types of adversity. He noted that students may come from single-parent homes and neighborhoods where crime and violence are everyday occurrences.

"They feel very safe and comfortable and respected here ...," McMullen said. He also shows them there are options at the Career and Technology Center and Southeast Missouri State University, where McMullen has taught for six years, because the students haven't been exposed to higher education.

"It's allowed their education to take [on] more meaning for them personally. As a result, they're motivated to do better," he said.

Kirsten Poole, a 16-year-old sophomore, and LaKoda Gibson, an 18-year-old senior, agree the center has helped them quite a bit. Both like the fact that teachers spend time with them, push them to get better grades and offer the help they need.

"It has boosted my self-esteem a lot," Poole said. "I feel like I'm doing better, and that I can do better, and be better. Before [I came] here, I felt like I wasn't going to graduate. I was just slacking off. I felt like I didn't care anymore. I didn't care if I graduated because I just felt like I wasn't getting the help that I needed. I never really skipped, but I wouldn't come to school. I would skip school sometimes. ... I felt like they didn't care, so why should I?" Poole said.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

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