BENTONVILLE -- The School District will offer an alternative learning environment at its elementary level for the first time starting this fall.
ACE Academy is designed to give more attention to students who require additional support because of academic, social, emotional or behavioral issues. The program will be housed at Sugar Creek Elementary School and will serve students from across the district.
Long-term vision
Bentonville school officials envision an alternative learning environment for grades kindergarten through eight in a facility that’s separate from any existing campus. That could come to fruition in the 2017-18 school year or later. It’s estimated 1 percent to 1.5 percent of the School District’s students would benefit from the alternative environment.
Source: Bentonville School District
ACE stands for Academic and Character Excellence. Assignments to the academy will be temporary, said Matt Cook, Sugar Creek's principal.
"We want to get them in, provide them the resources they need, and get them back to their home school," Cook said.
The district has offered an alternative learning environment, called Gateway, for its high school students for several years. Gateway students get a small-school environment with more individualized attention. District officials have long contemplated a similar model for younger kids.
"We have been talking about an (alternative learning environment) program at the lower level for 20 years," said Tamara Gibson, executive director of instruction for the elementary and middle schools. "The reality of the last few years is we've seen more and more children for whom we feel we're not doing the best we can because they would benefit from a delivery like this."
Administrators visited elementary alternative classrooms in Rogers, Sheridan, Fort Smith, Greenwood and Van Buren.
"Each of them looked a little different and ours will look a little different as well," Cook wrote in an email. "The state allows each district to set up a program that works for their own community as long as each follow the over-arching state guidelines."
Bentonville's academy will consist of two classrooms: one for kindergarten and first grade, and one for grades two through four. Both classes will have a capacity of 12 students and be served by one teacher and one teacher's aide. There will be extra counseling and mental-health services available to the students, Cook said.
Teachers and principals will recommend students for the academy to the academy's director. The director will review the referral packet for completeness, then set up a placement team meeting to determine if the academy is an appropriate place for each recommended student, Cook said.
If the team believes the academy is a good fit and there is an open spot, the student will transition from his or her home school to the program. If there is no spot available, that student will go on a waiting list.
Every student in the program will get an individualized student action plan focused on academic, social and behavioral skills.
The academy provides younger students the opportunity to learn behavior that's expected at school, Cook said.
"We quite literally have students who come to kindergarten whose only interaction with another 5-year-old is a sibling. So when they get to kindergarten they're not sure how to act," he said.
A typical stay in the program is expected to be about six months, Cook said. Students earn points based on their behavior and work ethic, and certain point levels entitle them to new privileges. Once they reach the highest point level, they begin a gradual transition back to the regular classroom.
Westside Elementary in Rogers has been home to the district's alternative learning environment classroom for 10 years, said Amy Putnam, Westside's principal. It is for students in kindergarten through second grade. Typical enrollment is between six and 12 students at any given time, Putnam said.
All students who have been through the Rogers program have stayed at least one school year, Putnam said.
"We like to make sure they are successful in a regular classroom setting before we transition them back to their home building," she said.
Most of the students eventually move into a special-education program at their home school, Putnam said.
"Typically once they leave us, they're in the appropriate placement. We don't hear much from them again because we were able to get them back on track," Putnam said. "So it's been a highly successful program."
Some of the students have ended up in the alternative learning environment at the high school level, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, she said.
"That might be something that just meets their needs. It's not necessarily a punitive thing," she said.
Parents generally are supportive of administrators' decisions to put their children in the alternative learning environment, Putnam said.
"It can be a long process of trying to go through interventions at the home school," Putnam said. "Typically, by the time they get to us, they're on board. The home school does a good job of preparing the parent for this kind of option."
The state does not require parental consent to place kids in an alternative environment, Cook said.
"However, we understand in order for a program to be as successful as possible, the support of a parent is going to be crucial," Cook said. "These parents have usually had years of frustration with their student's behavior and academic progress, so they're excited for the program."
The Bentonville School Board unanimously approved ACE Academy at the board's last meeting. Rebecca Powers, a board member, said she used to be an alternative learning teacher's aide in Springdale. The alternative environment method is tried and true, she said.
"(The elementary level) is in desperate need," Powers said. "It's so great to see it coming here."
Arkansas schools receive an additional $4,400 in state money for each alternative education student on top of typical per-student funding, Cook said.
NW News on 06/15/2015