We are an Alternative High School based on philosophies that teach our students the values and skills necessary to succeed in a diverse and ever-changing global society. We strive to create an atmosphere of high expectations and joyful learning where students are encouraged to work together, take academic risks, think critically, and pursue successful careers and higher education. We strive to convey and instill in our students the knowledge and experiences they need to live happy, healthy, and productive lives.
We serve students in grades 8-12 who have had difficulty succeeding in a traditional high school setting.
We offer a safe, supportive atmosphere with personalized instruction.
My Project
Our high poverty area brings many challenges to our students: lack of food, high unemployment, relatives in prison, threats of eviction or deportation, parents sick or addicted, caring for younger siblings, the list goes on and on...
Our students are not just hungry for knowledge, quite often they don't have enough food to eat.
Hunger is an invisible condition unlike a physical pain, so it is not easy to detect. A student who has not eaten the night before is not readily able to learn. Instead, the student is more likely to be exhausted, aggressive, hyperactive, or anxious and instead of being identified as hungry, labeled as a “behavior problem” or “unmotivated.”
Students rarely volunteer hunger as a cause of their problems, instead they go to great lengths to avoid being identified as hungry as many relate hunger to the stigma of being “poor”.
Almost all of our students are entitled to a cold boxed lunch; made around eight hours before, packed in a cooler bag, transported to our school, and refrigerated until it is served; it’s nutritious, not always delicious and it’s no hot lunch.
We want to be able to provide our students with some hot meals; cold boxed lunch supplementation, night and/or weekend meals. We are a small school, we don’t have a kitchen, and we can’t prepare food every day. But we can at least once a week, before a weekend, and/or maybe on a particularly bad weather day – if we have the right tools.
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