Reflections of an Alternative School Administrator

Schools or programs that seek to serve variety of youths and families in today's society should not be separated out as alternatives, in Mr. McGee's view. Ensuring that all individuals have opportunity to become successful is not an alternative - it is a necessity. ALTERNATIVE schools in 1960s and early 1970s emerged as idealistic havens. Although many of students attending these schools may have been potential dropouts, tendency was to fault the system for not meeting needs of students, rather than to blame students for failing to conform to system. Early alternative schools were designed to engage students who were turned off and had tuned out. They did so by encouraging creativity and focusing on individuality and personal freedom. The students, and in many cases staffs, of these schools believed it was acceptable, possibly even honorable, to choose not to be a part of Establishment. These early alternatives often allied themselves with concept of progressive education, subscribing to belief that education should focus on whole child and should be heavily experiential in nature. The staffs of these schools encouraged students to look within, to express themselves openly, and to participate in determining focus and nature of education they were to receive. Building on these concepts, early alternative schools often incorporated phrase Free or into their names. Many of these original alternative schools continue to exist today. Two of best-known examples are Jefferson County Open School, now located in Lakewood, Colorado, and St. Paul Open School, in St. Paul, Minnesota. The current situation for alternative education in United States is somewhat different. Today's students face a myriad of personal and social problems that were not as prevalent in 1960s and 1970s. As an alternative school administrator, I am often asked about type of student who attends my school. I always reply that students at Hamilton Alternative School are students who, for whatever reason, have not been successful in traditional school setting. Simply stated, students who choose to come to Hamilton Alternative School have needs that can best be met in a school specifically designed to assist them in overcoming difficulties. Many of students at Hamilton Alternative School faced a variety of problems before they decided to leave their regular schools. Some of issues confronting them include, but are not limited to, following: some have parents who are divorced or were never wed; some lack support for education in home; some suffer from financial instability and high mobility; some lack ties to community, lack friends at school, and are not engaged in extracurricular or cocurricular activities; they have a history of academic failure; they have poor anger management; many are teen parents; many are victims of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; some are depressed, others have attempted suicide; many have been victims of rape or other types of violence in their communities; many suffer from alcohol or drug addiction; some are former or present gang members; some suffer from poor health and have had little or no access to health care; many have experienced loss of loved ones through premature death; many have alcoholic or drug-addicted parents. However disheartening this list may seem, I have found Hamilton Alternative students to be very resilient and quite capable of achieving success when presented with an appropriate educational environment. Unfortunately, members of general public - and many educators, as well - often define students in alternative schools by difficulties they face rather than by their ability to overcome these difficulties. There is a tendency to see potential dropouts not as turned off but rather as disruptive, deviant, and dysfunctional students who are a detriment to traditional school. …