PSS’ new Alternative Education Program, or AEP, held its ribbon cutting/opening ceremony on Monday at Marianas High School’s Building H to celebrate a can-do attitude among staff, students, parents and the community.
The new program offers a full-time alternative for high school students that are suspended from regular classes for serious behavioral or academic problems as PSS policy does not allow at-home suspensions.
Education Commissioner Rita A. Sablan summed up the program’s objective, “We want a place to take care of every student, regardless of their status and many people have worked really hard to make this possible.”
PSS used federal ARRA funds to rehabilitate the building and hire four teachers and one counselor to kick-start the program, but then made a commitment to absorb the staff into the regular budget and allocate the needed operational resources from other areas to ensure its survival.
AEP Director Felisa Brel explained, “The commissioner and her staff always shared the ‘we can do it’ attitude even when Federal money ran out…by opening this program we send a strong message to struggling kids that anything is possible when you stop making excuses and commit all your energy.”
These are core values of the AEP program, which accepts students from all three island high schools for both short and long term stays that can last three days up to a semester.
For those that come to the program with behavioral and/or academic challenges, counseling is a built-in part of the day.
“We’re trying to address underlying problems such as family trouble or low self-esteem so that the kids can learn better coping skills and make better choices,” explained Brel.
Since the program soft-opened at the beginning of the new school year in August, the positive results are apparent.
Two such success stories include students from Kagman High School who suffered from terrible absenteeism last year, but who both have perfect attendance records since starting the alternative program.
For Brel however, it takes a village to raise a responsible teenager and school is only one important piece of the puzzle.
“This program is a wonderful school-based approach for at-risk students, but we also need the community to stay involved and keep an eye on what’s going on outside of school…we as adults can’t turn away from kids making bad decisions just because they aren’t family.”
Regardless of what any other part of the community is doing or not doing, PSS’ no-excuses effort to educate responsible young-adults via the Alternative Education Program is a milestone worth celebrating.
