CLAREMONT — The SAU 6 Academy — an alternative educational format for students in grades 8 through 12 — will have a new home this fall, two years after the program began at the Sugar River Valley Technical Center.
Academy Director Lee Mulloy began the academy two years ago with about 10 students, followed by 20 last year and possibly 24 this year.
While volunteers used brushes and rollers to lay a shade of light green paint on the walls of the main classroom last week, Mulloy stressed the academy is not an independent school.
“We are actually a branch of Stevens High School,” which is about a mile away, Mulloy said. Like all other students, the program’s graduates will receive a Stevens diploma with 20, 23 or 27 credits.
The academy offers students who struggle in a traditional alternative setting and a more personalized educational path, Mulloy said in an email.
“One of the things we know, through years of research, is alternative programs work best when they are separated from the mainstream (student population),” Mulloy said at the lodge. “So we have a school of 24 students, not 500.”
An alternative setting outside of Stevens, Mulloy said, allows the district to keep some students who otherwise would be sent out of district — at a considerably higher cost — in Claremont. More importantly she said, the students remain in their community.
“The more they can stay connected to their community, the more successful they will be,” she said.
The school district bought the former Masonic Lodge on Maple Avenue in January for $255,000 to serve as the program’s new home. It has a street-level first floor of 2,000 square feet and a downstairs of 1,700 square feet with a kitchen and a community room. The district is now working with volunteers to renovate the building.
School officials hope to move in by the time school starts later this month, but with a lot of work left to do, including building an accessible bathroom and laying new flooring in the main classroom, Mulloy said she was not sure that would happen.
“We will stay at the tech center as long as we need to,” she said.
Last Thursday, 15 employees from Red River Technology, which has offices on Water Street in Claremont, volunteered to help get the former lodge ready for the students. They spent about five hours painting the main classroom, office and hallway.
“We are helping them out because they don’t have a big budget,” said Melissa Tucker, of Red River, who coordinated the volunteer effort. “We are trying to do as much as we can while we are here.”
The cost of the renovation project was not immediately available from the school district.
Also contributing to last week’s volunteer effort was Home Depot and LaValley’s Building Supply, which donated paint. When the building is ready it will be furnished with tables, chairs and dividers donated by Red River, Mulloy said. Red River is also donating three Smartboards to the Academy.
“I’m doing everything I can to keep costs down,” Mulloy said.
To start, the academy staff will include a special education teacher and two paraprofessionals, said Mulloy, who is a certified special education teacher.
“We hope as we grow we can add teachers for English, math and science,” Mulloy said, adding that she works closely with Stevens Principal Michael Herrington on the curriculum.
Last year, two students returned and another nine, who would have been sent out of district, remained in the district. This year, an additional four could be brought back, but that has not been finalized.
“We can now educate these students here rather than paying somebody else to do it,” Assistant Superintendent Mike Koski said.
Another aspect of the program is providing a space at the academy for students, if necessary, to meet with others who provide services to them, such as case management or counseling.
“That is a huge piece to this program, working with the community,” Mulloy said.
There are a whole host of reasons that students don’t succeed in a regular school setting, but sending them out of district can set them back, Scott Maple, the school district’s truancy officer, said.
“If you start sending them out, they take longer to learn how to fit in,” Maple said.
