Until last May, kids given the boot from school often suffered a gap in their education while they waited out their expulsions–or they dropped out of school altogether. But now a new school opened last spring in Lake County provides a backup for expelled students to continue attending classes and to get their behavioral difficulties turned around as well.
The school’s job is twofold: academics and counseling, said Kathy Kistenfeger, principal of the Lake County Regional Alternative program at the idle Zion-Benton High School Pearce Campus.
In addition to three teachers and a principal, the staff includes a full-time social worker and an “interventionist.”
“The support staff works closely with teachers on social skills, counseling, conflict resolution, anger management, drug and alcohol issues, gang-related issues and developing goals,” she said. The program also hooks up parents and kids with local community agencies that can continue to service their social needs once they are back at their own school.
The goal of the program, funded by a state grant, is to get students re-entered at their home district so they can graduate.
Officials received the grant last December and scrambled to open an abbreviated pilot summer program with only six students in 9th and 10th grades. Referrals are rolling in, and officials expect enrollment to reach 20 to 25 by October and plan to hire three more teachers.
