Columbus Schools Create SuccessWorks Academy to Combat Poor Conduct and Academics

Columbus Schools’ SuccessWorks Academy will be an alternative education program that aims to provide quality education to those students with continual and often severe behavioral issues. The Columbus Schools’ SuccessWorks Academy plans to admit students beginning in January of 2007. The SuccessWorks Academy will provide education to approximately 150 students in third to seventh grades. The school will not only follow a strong academic curriculum but offer services and trained counselors to address the social, emotional and physical health needs of students. The overall goal of the SuccessWorks Academy is to transition the students back into a regular school environment and give them the skills to participate fully and effectively in a normal school.
The Staff and Curriculum of Columbus Schools’ SuccessWorks Academy
The SuccessWorks Academy will have two teachers for each grade level and support staff that includes a principal, a counselor; a behavior specialist; instructional assistants; a nurse; art, music, and physical education teachers; and a psychologist. Prior to hiring, the staff will have to show that they know how to work successfully with at-risk students, have experience in how ability to apply effective research based instructional practices, have the necessary communication skills needed to work with parents and the skill to document student development on a regular basis. This is in order to ensure that the most cable teachers are placed in the SuccessWorks Academy. The teachers will have to teach a curriculum tailored to the needs of the student population. Not only the core subject areas of reading, writing, math, science, and social studies, as well as health/physical education and the unified arts but the curriculum will reflect the weakness and strengths of the students determined by pre-entrance examines. This may include the use of individualized, small group and class instruction to better handle the students learning or socialization needs.
Student Selection
As the aim of the SuccessWorks Academy is to have the students return to a regular school environment the student population will be continually changing. The Columbus Schools admissions committee will admit students into the SuccessWorks Academy based on the referrals from schools and the students’ records. Referrals can be based on severe misbehavior as well as documented frequent poor attendance, low academic performance, and lack of social skills. The placement period will be initially set for one semester and the students will be monitored and considered on an individual basis to determine after the first semester if the student is prepared to return to a regular school environment. This will include serious collaboration with parents and counselors. When the student returns to the regular school environment, the student will receive support for the transition from the school counselor to help assure a successful transition. The support services of the SuccessWorks Academy will follow and maintain a close connection to the student as the student returns to his or her regular school. The school that receives the transitioning student from SuccessWorks Academy will get an all-inclusive report about the student’s growth and future needs. This is a highly innovative program that will improve the Columbus Schools.