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Canadian Mini-SchoolsHow to Get a School-Resistent Teenager to Graduate
Graduating high school remains an important achievement and one necessary for future success. Mini-schools can help older students who have dropped out to graduate.
High school graduation is usually the prerequisite for accomplishing anything in North American society. Without graduating, the student can't attend college or university, thereby closing off many job options. Also, students miss many of the important social occasions of their youth if they choose to leave school early. For many students, the regular curriculum and hours, whether due to personal choice, a stressful home environment or other complicating factors, don't appeal. Why Do Students Drop Out?Every year, up to 120,000 high school students , according to Stats Canada, decide to drop out of public, private or even alternative educational options, such as home schooling. Students leave school early for a range of reasons. Sometimes they are high achievers and the regular curriculum bores them. Other times, they have no interest in their education, achieve low grades and profess indifference. In other cases, illness, drug addiction or pregnancy can lead to the student leaving school prior to graduation. When the economy is booming, some students leave school early to enter the work force. Over 20% eventually regret leaving and return to school to graduate by the time they are in their early twenties. Students, again according to Stats Canada, are more prone to dropping out if their home life is unstable, if literacy is minimal, or if household income is low. What are the Options to Ensure Students Graduate?Before the student turns sixteen, there are usually many resources to access at the public or private school they left. These include individual counsellors, distance education courses, alternate school hours or accelerated programs. If the family can afford it, there are also options like private tutoring or alternative schools that feature more creative courses such as those in the Waldorf program. After the student turns sixteen however, schools no longer have the responsibility to keep the student attending classes. The student can legally work. At this point, small adjunct schools are often the solution. These programs are in mini-schools attached to the regular high school or to adult education buildings. In these schools, such as the P.O.W.E.R one in New Westminster, BC, students from 16 to 19 years of age can obtain a high school diploma without feeling held back in lower grades. How Do Mini-Schools Help?Mini-schools like P.O.W.E.R offer students a combination of in-school courses and self-directed programs. Rather than attending every day, school is often only three days a week from 10-2. Students can take as many courses as they feel able to complete, both in core subjects like English and extracurricular ones like Film Studies. Counselling for drug, alcohol or personal issues is available too. Breakfast and even lunches are provided, as well as field trips. Classes are small and individual attention is high. Students must abide by rules but are treated with respect. With such flexibility, focus and variety, students who found the typical school system impossible to function within often thrive. Students in mini-schools can even graduate faster than they would have in the regular system, with higher grades and more diverse options. Caregivers, of course, need to be firm and supportive to lead to the highest rate of success for the student and that important diploma!
The copyright of the article Canadian Mini-Schools in High School is owned by Catherine Owen. Permission to republish Canadian Mini-Schools in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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