Board to consider alternative program

County schools are also interested in “The Crossing.”

By Danielle Rush

The Kokomo School Board will consider another path to earning a Kokomo High School diploma at Monday’s board meeting.

Al Remaly, director of secondary education, will present a proposal to enter into an agreement with The Crossing alternative school to provide a program for Kokomo students.

The alternative program, which could serve as many as 50 students per day, would be in addition to the McKinley School program, Remaly said.

“This would be another educational alternative for students who need to learn in a little different way,” he said.

The Crossing was created by Ron Staley in 2003, when he opened the first school in Goshen with eight students and one teacher. According to the school Web site, enrollment has doubled every year since 2003, and has expanded to include schools in Elkhart, South Bend, Butler, New Haven, Ligionier and Frankfort.

Curriculum is based on Indiana standards and addresses four areas, including mental, physical, social and spiritual. Students also learn character education during daily “family time.” Students work at their own pace on computer-based lessons and must achieve 80 percent mastery before moving on.

Remaly said the program would be “revenue neutral,” meaning it would not cost the corporation additional money or make money. The corporation would receive state funding for each student in the program, and that money would pay for the program.

The students will be considered Kokomo High School students, and those who earn diplomas would receive them from Kokomo High School. Those students’ ISTEP scores would be part of the high school’s data.

He said there must be at least 25 students in the school, and he anticipates being able to fill it, with students who are struggling in school now or those who have dropped out but want to come back and earn a diploma.

Each student would attend for three hours per day, either in the morning or afternoon, for the computer-based program. The program provides a 1-to-6 ratio of teachers to students. When the students are not in school, they are encouraged to take career center classes or have a job.

He said once the board approves starting the school, a community board will be established to raise community support for the school and determine where it will be. Other Crossing schools are in storefronts and former churches, and in many communities, the sites are donated, Remaly said.

He said if Kokomo moves forward with the plan, it would first be for Kokomo-Center students, but it could be possible to expand and allow students from county schools to attend as well. Representatives from the Western, Eastern and Taylor schools have visited The Crossing in Frankfort, he said.

“We’d be happy to enter into agreements with them. We see this as something that would be good for the whole county,” Remaly said.

He said there is a religious element to the school, and he thought that is one of the important parts of its success, because it focuses on character and building relationships. He talked to students at the Frankfort campus and “they felt a real connection with those teachers. The teachers see it as their mission in life to help these students.”

He said part of the enrollment paperwork includes a waiver stating there is a religious element to the school, and students may choose not to attend based on that, he said.

The Crossing hires the teachers, and they are not Kokomo-Center employees. For 25 students, there will be two certified teachers, one teaching assistant and a social worker. Each Crossing team member provides his or her cell phone number to the students, and they are required to plan activities with the students outside of school hours a few times a month.

Remaly said when he visited the Frankfort site, students were talking about going to one teacher’s home to learn to cook. Their school group becomes their extended family, he said.

He said the school provides one more way for students to earn a high school diploma, rather than dropping out.

“We’re going to try to find ways to make productive citizens out of them.”

The board will meet at 6 p.m. in the administrative service center, 100 W. Lincoln Road.

• Danielle Rush is the Kokomo Tribune education reporter. She can be reached at 765-454-8585 or danielle.rush@kokomotribune.com.

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