Rockwood School District: Rockwood Alternative Education Committee Holds First Meeting Virtually

Press release from the Rockwood School District:

April 9, 2021

The Alternative Education Committee met for the first time virtually on Tuesday, April 6, to begin the process of shaping the future of Rockwood’s Individualized Learning Center (ILC). The Alternative Education Committee will evaluate ways to enhance educational opportunities and alternative programming to help meet the needs of all students. Executive Director of Student Services Dr. Terry Harris led the discussion and shared PDFthis presentation with the committee, which includes more than 30 teachers and staff members from multiple departments. This effort will include approximately six committee meetings through the end of 2021. In addition, the committee will break into separate sub-committees and meet as needed over the summer months.Dr. Harris shared information about the timeline and the four different phases of the committee’s work, which are:

• sharing our guiding principles and philosophies
• reviewing current alternative learning opportunities
• hearing voices and connecting understanding
• developing The Way Forward; alternative education planning

Task force members will research, analyze and eventually propose ways in which Rockwood’s alternative learning program can best supplement services already provided by students’ home high schools. There will also be opportunities for all stakeholders to weigh in. “Our goal is to ask questions, to listen and to examine what we can do better in alternative education to meet the needs of our students,” shared Dr. Harris. “This input will be used to create a reimagined ILC with new resources and opportunities beyond the traditional alternative high school experience for our students.”Dr. Harris also reiterated that the ILC will reopen after a “pause” during the 2021-2022 school year. “There are rumors and misperceptions out there about how we have no intention of reopening the ILC, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. The ILC will reopen with new and innovative personalized opportunities to help support our students,” Dr. Harris shared. “Kids can learn and kids can be successful. This process will include looking at some o​f the issues our students are facing and what do we need to put in place to assist those students so they can be successful in the workforce, in college, in the military - wherever life takes them after high school.”The task force plans to keep the community updated on its progress over the coming months and present a final proposal to the Board of Education in January 2022. The proposed launch date for the district’s new alternative learning plan is the 2022-2023 school year. For committee updates, including agendas, presentations and meeting recaps, visit the Rockwood website.​

The Alternative Education Committee met for the first time virtually on Tuesday, April 6, to begin the process of shaping the future of Rockwood’s Individualized Learning Center (ILC). The Alternative Education Committee will evaluate ways to enhance educational opportunities and alternative programming to help meet the needs of all students. Executive Director of Student Services Dr. Terry Harris led the discussion and shared PDFthis presentation with the committee, which includes more than 30 teachers and staff members from multiple departments. This effort will include approximately six committee meetings through the end of 2021. In addition, the committee will break into separate sub-committees and meet as needed over the summer months.Dr. Harris shared information about the timeline and the four different phases of the committee’s work, which are:

• sharing our guiding principles and philosophies
• reviewing current alternative learning opportunities
• hearing voices and connecting understanding
• developing The Way Forward; alternative education planning

Task force members will research, analyze and eventually propose ways in which Rockwood’s alternative learning program can best supplement services already provided by students’ home high schools. There will also be opportunities for all stakeholders to weigh in. “Our goal is to ask questions, to listen and to examine what we can do better in alternative education to meet the needs of our students,” shared Dr. Harris. “This input will be used to create a reimagined ILC with new resources and opportunities beyond the traditional alternative high school experience for our students.”Dr. Harris also reiterated that the ILC will reopen after a “pause” during the 2021-2022 school year. “There are rumors and misperceptions out there about how we have no intention of reopening the ILC, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. The ILC will reopen with new and innovative personalized opportunities to help support our students,” Dr. Harris shared. “Kids can learn and kids can be successful. This process will include looking at some o​f the issues our students are facing and what do we need to put in place to assist those students so they can be successful in the workforce, in college, in the military - wherever life takes them after high school.”The task force plans to keep the community updated on its progress over the coming months and present a final proposal to the Board of Education in January 2022. The proposed launch date for the district’s new alternative learning plan is the 2022-2023 school year. For committee updates, including agendas, presentations and meeting recaps, visit the Rockwood website.​

This press release was produced by the Rockwood School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.