February 2011

                                                Alternative Education

            King Street School located adjacent to Woodsville High School is an alternative school serving 9-12 grade male and female students. We are in our 8^th year of existance. Being a small setting it allows the students to learn at their own pace. Many different reasons why a student comes to KSS. They vary from behavior, credit recovery, attendance issues, socially, in danger of dropping out, and multiply other reasons that may come up in a students academic life. We have serviced near a 100 students and we have an 85% success rate. [still in school or graduated]

            Why would a parent want there child in an alternative setting? Is your child struggling in class, overwhelmed with homework, having difficulty fitting in, not coming to school on a regular basis, running with the wrong crowd, in the court system, or just seem to be going in the wrong direction? KSS is here to help. We build relationships with students and this is key to our success. We listen, we help, we understand.

            My staff here at KSS do a great job meeting student needs. Every student is here for different reasons and it is our job to help, and get them back on tract socially or academically. We trully enjoy helping students. I say this all the time; “that I have never met a bad kid, just kids that make poor decisions”. This is why we are in alternative education.

            What KSS is not: KSS is not where the bad kids go or a place for just the poorly behaved kids. It is the least restrictive environment for that student. It is not an easy school, we do not have 90 minute classes which helps keep the attention of our students. We have expectations and expect them to uphold to them. We provide our students with essential skills and knowledge they need to become productive, responsible young adults. Field trips, community service, a vocational portion that fits different kids ability level, River Bend career and technical center, WHS transition, and many other options to get the most out of our students and give them a direction that they may not of had before entering KSS.

            We have the experience working with at-risk youth as well as special needs students. We are prideful in our ability to be flexible for our students and their needs, whether their needs are educational or emotional. We provide the support that may or may not be getting helping them maintain a healthy attitude. Check us out on the SAU 23 website if you would like more information. We truly are alternative education at work.