The Marshall County Alternative High School continues to see success in helping students graduate. Teacher Katie Duran reviewed the 2018-2019 school year for the Plymouth School Board last week.
As for some of the highlights, she said one sophomore who missed the majority of her freshman year completed over 20 credits and is now looking to graduate a year early. The alternative school also helped a single mother graduate a semester early, and a student with who was behind on credits and had a lot of behavioral problems was able to finish on time.
Enrollment in the alternative program increased slightly, with 50 students last year. Another 16 were officially counted in night school, although Duran said more attended sporadically. Students in the two programs completed a combined 486 classes, a slight drop from the year before. Duran said the program met its 80-percent average daily attendance goal, but was one student short of reaching an 80-percent graduation rate. However, she said that last student was able to finish the required work during summer school.
Duran said the program got some help from a couple of outside groups this year. Purdue Extension let the alternative school students use the INWork program for six weeks. Duran said it helped them work on personal accountability, career planning, and time management skills.
She said the alternative school also gets an annual donation from Tri Kappa. That money has helped students pay for their cap and gown, SAT fees, and other small things that they need to be successful.
