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Education with Alternative Schools: Applewood Academy

Back to school is an exciting time of year for every family, but some parents have an added concern: Wondering what challenges might pop up.

Some kids don’t fit into a traditional school setting and the results – like suspensions or expulsions – can cause a lot of stress.

Applewood Academy for Progressive Learning, a leader among alternative schools, was created ten years ago because we understand that some students need extra support to succeed. We have the same academic goals as the public school system, but we fit those goals around the needs of each student.

“I try to get perspective on each child, find out what their interests are, and create a therapeutic program that will give them meaningful incentives to help get them interested,” explained Angela Cross, who leads the elementary program.

A therapeutic program isn’t necessarily on the minds of most teachers as they get ready for September, but it’s central to that work that we do.

Individualized approach to education

“Most of the kids that come to Applewood are here because they can’t settle into a traditional school setting,” Cross noted.

“That’s not always the case; we also have students who are just in in transition between schools. Students that are here longer-term stay for a variety of reasons, including behavioural issues or social problems.”

Each student has a treatment plan based on an assessment that’s completed by their parents or caregivers at the beginning of the school year; this helps shape individual goals which our staff syncs with the academic information they need to learn.

“One of the biggest challenges we face is getting past behaviour in the classroom so we can work on the academics.” Cross explained.

“We look at different ways we can get each student involved. We look at managing the environment, like working one-on-one. We’ll consider modifying a student’s day when they’re feeling any kind of emotional distress – maybe less academics and more talking. And we get really creative when it comes to finding the right incentives to motivate them.”
Staff support is available

Applewood combines professional expertise with peer support through high school co-op and college placement students. That means there’s a lot of help available in addition to the permanent staff.

“At one time, there are probably four or five adults for seven students,” Cross said. “The high school students have less staff, maybe two for the same number of students. A lot of the academic work is done one-on-one.”

In our next article, we’ll look at what parents can do to support their child at Applewood Academy’s alternative schools. If you would like to register your child for the upcoming school year, please contact us.

High School Students Can Choose Home School

Home schooling curriculum for high school students can be checked out if parents want to send their children to the program.

Unlike the common opinion about the limited program to primary or lower grade class students, it is even available for upcoming college students. Several resources are always available to fill up your need regardless your child’s age.

It has been getting more and more parents in this system of educating their children. To put it more simply, home education is the process of learning where children are taught and educated inside the home. This method of educating children has been around for a long time. But it is only now that it has gathered more interest. The reason for its newfound resurgence may be the fact that more and more parents would want to personally look over the education of their children.

This way, parents will be able to oversee what their children learn and be able to teach subjects that really matter. It also enables a student to be educated in a very comfortable and familiar environment- their own home. No longer would children have to adapt to new surroundings, as their home is their classroom. Parent and child can also spend more time together through this unique educational system.

If you are interested in having your child home schooled through high school, there are different high school home schooling curriculums available that will be able to provide your child the type of education that he or she needs. The type of curriculum that you choose would depend on the type of education that you want to provide for your child.

There are religion-based high school curriculums that you can follow if you prefer to incorporate religious component into the lessons of your child. There are also curriculums that focus on the Sciences and the Arts that you might also consider. But also, keep in mind that there are other methods available for your child going into high school.

Other methods available for you include student-paced learning where your child can learn and progress at an individualized speed. It is fairly accepted that every individual have different rates of comprehension, and learning curves. This method focuses on the learning rate of your child. This will allow children to master concepts before they proceed to the next lesson instead of adapting to the teacher.

There are also programs being offered by your local community which you can take advantage of. There are also unit studies that focus on teaching different subjects following a central theme. There are also all-in-one programs that can cover your child’s needs for the entire year. These programs will usually already include all the materials and resources that the home school student would need. There are other methods specifically designed for your child in high school, that parents should also look into. It is an opportunity worth exploring.