EV Launching Alternative Program For Middle Grades

Middle school students who aren’t connecting well in regular classes will have a new option this fall in the East Valley School District.

An alternative program for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders is starting up.

Special programs director Larry Busse said the program will go ahead if as few as 10 students are accepted. Plans call for a smaller than usual class size - ideally, 16 students to one teacher. District officials say they’ve identified 81 potential candidates for the school.

Teacher Shane Toy from East Valley Middle School will run the program, which will be housed at the middle school.

“I’m there to instill success in these kids,” Toy said.

The district is starting the program in order fill a gap for students who are not thriving in the regular school. There are few full-fledged alternative schools for middle school students around the state, Busse said. “We will be the model,” said Ken Woolf, principal of the East Valley Middle School.

Students won’t be automatically accepted into the program. They and their parents must apply.

“I’m looking to see kids who want to be there,” Busse said. Students will sign a contract committing to a certain level of behavior.

Busse will ask students: “What do you want to get out of this? What are you willing to put in?”

Some sort of parental involvement also will be required.

“That scares some parents,” Busse said. “But we believe that by saying I’ll take some of my time - that tells the students this is important.”

The school will be run in the same way as a one-room school house. “You could say it’s a sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade one-room school, not unlike a turn-of-the-century school. Only with technology and a whole lot of educational knowledge about how kids learn and don’t learn,” Busse said.

Toy will involve students in group projects, as well as individual work.

Students will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. Sports and other East Valley programs will be available to the alternative school students.

, DataTimes