Success for nontraditional students. (Meeting Students' Individual Needs).

How and why is success achieved with students who have been unsuccessful in traditional settings? If you were to walk into an average elementary/secondary school, you would see students attending classes, using their lunch period to socialize and possibly participate in an after-school sports activity. Many of these students are completing their class work and homework every day, and sometimes participating in an after-school tutorial program if they need extra assistance.

However, there are students who rarely attend school, and when they do, they cut classes or are tardy, and are typically not prepared for school. Teachers find that dealing with these students is not pleasant and often results in a written referral to the assistant principal's office.

Most educators find these students lack a personal commitment to learning. They need an environment where their individual needs are met at a different level, and they need to be motivated to remain in school and become productive citizens.

There are school districts in the State of California with programs that do just that. Stockton Unified School District has an alternative/continuation high school that is called Model Alternative. Principal Andres R. Torres and his staff promote student success through a rigorous curriculum combined with electives that help meet students' educational and vocational needs. Many of the students need personal and occupational guidance as a part of their everyday program. All of them have at one time or another attended a typical setting in which they were not successful.

At Model Alternative/Continuation High School there are special programs to ensure the best possible education and success for all of these nontraditional students. These programs include pre-employment job skills training; Gateway Program, a district program for pregnant minors in grades 7-12; an Infant-Toddler Center that offers free child care to students enrolled at the school site through the Parent and Child Education Program; S.T.A.R (Strategies and Techniques for the Advancement of Reading), a program for students who read below grade level; and Regional Occupational Programs in the areas of public safety and computer-based office training. Through a Digital High School Grant, technology is available to all students.

Other options that help students catch up on credits include summer school, work experience, adult school classes, concurrent independent study, morning/afternoon schedule, community service and migrant education.

If continual funding for this alternative school was not available, where would these kids now be?

This is just one public school program that works for students who do not fit the "norm" in the public school setting. Many other school districts have risen to this calling. If districts did not have innovative ways for students to be successful, the drop-out rate would be much higher and many people would be out on the streets without an education, seeking jobs for which they could not successfully compete.

However, many school boards do not promote such programs because of the stigma that goes along with alternative schools. They do not want the public to know that their school district has unsuccessful students for whom they need to find alternative modes of education. I feel they are failing many students in their care.

All students have the right to an environment that is conducive to learning. But does that statement really ring true when such programs are not promoted with passion and with open arms? At Stockton Unified, board members advocate the "out of the box" thinking that some students need a different educational setting to learn. I would like to think that all district boards and superintendents across California would be a part of this progressive thinking.

We need to work together to continue to fund alternative programs. All children should have the opportunity for academic success, whether it be in the regular school setting or an alternative academic placement. Please join me in the quest to continue to seek funds from the state of California to provide different choices for all students in the 21st century.

Tina Marie Frediani is assistant principal of Hamilton Middle School in the Stockton Unified School District.