D-11 program coaxes dropouts back to school

For every 100 students who start high school in Colorado Springs School District 11, more than 30 don't graduate with their class.

A couple of months ago, it looked as if A.J. Duran would be among them, a dropout from the class of 2009.

Now, he's enrolled in Palmer Night School, and he thinks he can make up his credit deficiencies through some special programs. His mind, he says, is "set on graduating with my class in the spring."

A.J. is one of about 25 dropouts that D-11 administrators and community leaders coaxed back into the classroom with the recent launch of the "Bridges to Opportunity" program, a multilayered effort to reduce the number of students who drop out.

In August, top D-11 administrators and Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera began calling students on a list of 115 identified as dropouts. Rivera called A.J.'s number and got his mom, Melanie Clark. She asked Rivera to call back in an hour when her son would be home.

He did.

"It was really interesting that the mayor would call me," A.J. said. "No one ever tried to get me back in school. No call, nothing."

Clark said she believes that call got her son's attention because it seemed like somebody cared about what he was doing.

"I sat down and talked to him tons of times," she said. "But the call from the mayor made the difference."

The program is designed to address some systemic issues that have allowed dropouts to fall through the cracks.

Michael Poore, D-11's deputy superintendent for educational support services, said the team of callers encountered a lot of distrust from students who thought they didn't have the option of returning to school.

A.J. was one of them. He said he told the mayor he'd like to go to Palmer Night School and graduate with his friends in the spring, but he doubted that could happen. Rivera asked him that if it could happen, would he return to school?

A.J. said yes.

"I actually like it," A.J. said last week. "It feels a lot better than sitting at home all day."

Students who leave school often don't know where to get information about alternative programs, making up credits and the like, said Ted Stevens, Mitchell High School dean and dropout coordinator.

 That, too, was A.J.'s experience. He said he didn't know what options he had, and he didn't know where to go for help. Until the mayor called, he said, it seemed like no one cared.

More than 1 million U.S. students a year don't graduate from high school, said Stevens, who researched dropout retention programs in other states and helped the district develop its new retrieval and retention programs. It's a problem the entire community must tackle, whether it's by providing alternative education programs, online schools or ways for dropouts to contact someone who can talk to them about their options, Stevens said.

Many students who drop out are transient, so it's incumbent upon schools to find them quickly, he said.

D-11's numbers show the difficulty high schools have in keeping track of dropouts: Of the 115 students on the calling list, 15 were actually enrolled in D-11 programs in August and 11 were enrolled in other schools. Another 31 phone numbers had been disconnected.

Counselors are continuing to call dropouts and talk to them about their options, and the district received a state grant to hire two counselors to work with dropouts and students at risk for dropping out, said Kandy Claybaugh, D-11's executive director of grants and special programs.

"These are the folks who are going to knock on doors and find these kids," she said, adding that at least one will work early evening hours to be available when kids and families need them.

The continuing contact is making a difference, she said. Another dropout was enrolled in the district's digital school on Thursday, she said.

That's the kinds of effort A.J. believes it will take to reach students like himself.

He admits he "messed up," but as he cut classes and started to fall behind early in his sophomore year, it seemed that no one was paying attention, he said.

The day after his 16th birthday, in November 2006, he was called to the office at Palmer High School because of his truancy. He said the administrator "sort of talked for a few minutes and then she told me, ‘A.J., you're no longer a student at Palmer, you can go and get your stuff.' So I did. I didn't really mean to drop out."

Later, he talked to his mom about getting his GED or attending an alternative school. He said he and his mom called some other schools to see if he could enroll, but no one ever called back.

In his mind, he said, he always wanted to graduate, but just didn't know where to turn for help. He knew he couldn't return to Palmer day classes because he needed more structure and more one-on-one help.

Now, he said, he knows that if he misses five days of night school he'll be booted out. He doesn't want that to happen and is beginning to think about what he'll do after graduation.

If he goes to college, he said, he'd study business. But he said he's more likely to join the Marines.

Right now, though, he's focused on making up credits and doing well in classes.

And he has a bit of advice for school administrators: "Talk to kids after a few attendance issues. Get it into kids' heads that if they're skipping they're going to be out."

Poore said the district is beginning to identify students who are at risk of dropping out earlier and counselors will talk to them about what's going on in their lives and at school.

He also said the district must work to ensure all staff members know what options are available for students who might need to move into a different program. The district produced a "Bridges to Opportunities" booklet that outlines its alternative education programs, and other efforts to get the information out will continue, he said.

A.J. said he'd urge fellow students to seek such options if regular classes aren't working for them rather than just giving up. "I'd advise kids to stay in school," he said. "Just stay in school."

Contact the Writer: 636-0251 or sue.mcmillin@gazette.com