Students go to schools like Redwood for a variety of reasons. The reason run the imaginable continuum. Students have had challenging upbringings that never provided a stable home life to focus on school. Some students have been victims of domestic violence or sexual and emotional abuse. Some students have had challenging educational skill gaps that were never address. Some students are teenage parents and need additional support. Some students are quite brilliant and felt unchallenged in the comprehensive school setting. Some students are very talented in ways that the comprehensive schools were not able to bring out. The reasons run long. Yes, some students battle real disciplinary issues, but overwhelmingly the students are great. Far from the stereotypical image at the top of this post.
From the first parent-students orientation we tell our students that we are not in a position to blame, judge, or exacerbate challenges. We do, however, tell our students that we need to move forward from the past by first being honest with themselves and taking ownership of the part they can control moving forward. The other part is that they have to come to school on a very regular basis and take advantage of the caring staff the works diligently to help them.
Alternative and continuation schools exist to help students that were under-resourced or not supported to get back on track and set a new positive road for themselves and their respective families.
There are marked differences between alternative high schools and continuation high school. This topic is beyond the scope of the thread of blogs. I may blog on these major differences down the road. For the purpose of this blog thread I use them interchangeably.
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