Supporting At-Risk Students

Look Inside: Table of Contents Introduction Book (104 pp.) Video (15:41 min.)	Watch video trailer! Video + book Based on a Successful Program at: Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School Written by teachers: Lorraine Bacos, Sarah Brock, Michael Chadwick, Paula Hamel, Reggina Kailin, Carole Levy, and Richard Phelps

Description of Supporting At-Risk Students

This book explores the systems that the Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School has developed to support students at risk of dropping out of high school. Through a specially designed social support curriculum, LMACS teachers help students break down negative habits and attitudes, build constructive coping skills, and build positive, trusting relationships with adults. At LMACS, every aspect of the school is systematically designed to aid and foster the psychosocial development of its students: from the schedule of the school day, to required coursework in Life Skills and an emphasis on school-to-career transitions, LMACS attempts to smooth the path not only to a high school diploma, but to a successful life.

Beginning in the fall of 2002, the eight full-time faculty members of LMACS spent a year working with the Project for School Innovation (PSI) to explore and document all of the pieces that go into this successful student support system. No Longer At Risk is the ninth publication in PSI’s By Teachers for Teachers series.

Major Topics Covered
Character Development, Study Skills, Struggling Students

Table of Contents for Supporting At-Risk Students

1. An Introduction to Supporting At-Risk Students

2. Overview
An introduction to Lowell Middlesex Academy, an outline of this how-to guidebook, and five underlying goals achieved through effective student support

3. Clearing the Path: Basic Structures for Success
Basic policies and systems that make a school a safe and consistent place for students to learn, including specific practices that help former dropouts adjust to the school environment.

4. The Big Picture: Elements of successful support for at-risk students
- Designated Adults
- The Advisory System
- Attendance Accountability
- Success Thursdays

5. Finding their Way: The Life Skills Curriculum
Three specific courses that help students become more self-aware, more confident in their convictions, and more effective in regulating and communicating their emotions.
- The Big Picture: Elements of a successful Life Skills Curriculum
- Life Skills
- Ethics
- Nonviolent Conflict Resolution

6. Bumps in the Road: Student Discipline and Individual Support
Guiding principles that make discipline effective, and three specific strategies for implementing these principles when issues arise.
- The Big Picture: Elements of Successful Discipline and Support
- Peer Mediations
- Staff Interventions
- Ethical Reviews

7. Light Through the Tunnel: Senior Year Support
How to prepare students for their lives beyond graduation.
- The Big Picture: Elements of Successful Senior Year Support
- Senior Seminar
- Senior Civics

Praise for Supporting At-Risk Students Books, Videos and Workshops

Supporting At-Risk Students is an excellent source of ideas and tips—a must read for teachers, counselors, and school leaders working with high-risk students. The book presents an array of effective interventions and proven practices useful at all school levels for youth in at-risk situations. It is a wonderful guide for school and community leaders to use as a tool for staff development, and it contains new ideas to enhance dropout prevention programs.

Jay Smink, Executive Director of the National Dropout Prevention Center

Supporting At-Risk Students is a formula for success! A lot can be learned from this model. They personalize their program in a small-group setting. They hold students to high standards of accountability. They help students see that a healthy internal locus of control is the epitome of success in life. And the students are mentored by a group of strong, caring and persistent adults.
Anthony Dallman-Jones, Director of the National At-Risk Education Network

All students, not just at-risk students need the kinds of support described in the very clear and helpful Supporting At-Risk Students. This guidebook is an excellent resource for all new schools, especially new early colleges.
Cecilia Cunningham, Director of the Middle College National Consortium

We needed to develop an attendance policy anyway, but without a chance to hear ideas from a school that’s done this before, we would have been shooting in the dark.
Boston Evening Academy Participant in Supporting At-Risk Students Workshop

Read the April, 2004 Press Release for Supporting At-Risk Students

PSI Can Help You Implement These Strategies:

Customized Workshops
Our staff can come to your school to help you implement these school-tested strategies for effectively supporting at-risk students.

School Visits
We can coordinate a visit to the Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School, so you can see their successful strategies first hand.

Planning Tools
PS Innovation can help you create a personalized step-by-step strategy for implementing successful student-support programs in your school.

Workshop/Presentation Roundup

The Supporting At-Risk Students team has led presentations at:

• National At-Risk Youth FORUM 2004, Myrtle Beach, SC
• Massachusetts Charter School Association 2004 Convention, Worcester, MA

…and customized workshops for:

• Champion Charter School, Brockton, MA
• Boston Evening Academy, Roxbury, MA
• Amesbury Academy of Strategic Learning, Amesbury, MA
• Frederick Douglass Charter School, Hyde Park, MA

Useful At-Risk Student Support Links

National At-Risk Education Network

National Dropout Prevention Center