Celebrating Success While Increasing the Graduation Rate

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 180

The total number of graduates to date this year has once again increased and the school year is still not over!  The students have be working hard throughout the school year, a difficult one at that with Hurricane Irma's impact.  They continue to meet graduation requirements by attending school, working throughout the school day, continue to work at home if possible and seek assistance.

Our students at Beacon Alternative Schools have come out of their shell and learned how to work hard, earn credits and graduate.  The students enrolled at our school are at-risk and/or those students with special needs.  Many have shared throughout their time with us that there have been situations in their lives when people around them have given up on them.  They have also told us how hard it has been for them to seek out assistance due to their disability or because they are shy.   We do not give up on our students.  We try every possible strategy that we can to help the student cross the finish line, earning a diploma/graduation. 

This grant has encouraged and motivated our students to attend school, work hard during the school day and to seek out teachers or other staff members to help them when they do not understand a concept.  The students have kept a course sequence sheet which has helped him/her track which courses they are working on.  The sheet has helped them see how long it has taken them to earn a half credit.  Our general guideline is that a half credit should be completed within three weeks.  If the student takes longer, we meet and strategize a new way of attacking the coursework. We have also implemented "tickets"  which our special needs students or those that have difficulty communicating with others use on a daily basis to seek out assistance.  This format and grant has greatly helped the student visualize his/her progress and tie directly into the school's positive behavior support incentives that we are unable to purchase with these grant funds.  The students have been rewarded for their course completions, attendance, responsibility, positive attitude and manners, dressing the part (we wear uniforms), and asking for help.  They have enjoyed the variety and multitude of goodies they have received and are eager to continue this adventure. 

The best part for our faculty has been when the student has met graduation requirements.  He/she rings our special graduation bell throughout the building, as a sign of their accomplishment and encouragement to others.  They also receive a "goody bag" full of great graduation tokens for their success.  The parents and students have been most appreciative that we continued to work alongside them, helped them meet their graduation goal and never gave up on their child. 

This grant was paired with the Lead Teacher Money to help fund more rewards.

• Receipts and Expense Form