Teacher Skyler Spaur started a recent high school class session by reading a story about a family in India out loud to a student, pausing often to ask him to summarize what was happening and offer clarification.
With the story finished, the teacher left that student to work independently and checked in with another taking a design class. He wanted to make sure the student’s laptop could handle the assignments and encouraged her to use past artwork to get through the initial basic skills assignments.
Next, Spaur talked with a student taking a public speaking class, offering to brainstorm speech ideas. When the student said he had what he needed, Spaur moved to another student with her head down on the desk. He encouraged her to work with him on a math worksheet, promising “we’re going to go nice and slow.”
The 20 students in the class — from different schools, in different grades and working through different classes — have one thing in common: They weren’t attending school consistently and needed support to get back on track.
Spaur is one of two teachers, two mental health advocates and an academic tutor who work in Boulder Valley’s Advanced Alternative Learning Program for Students.
The in-person program is held in a modular classroom that’s located behind Boulder’s Arapahoe Ridge High School. There’s space for 40 in-person students, split between morning and afternoon sessions. Another 10 students attend virtually.
“It’s a lot of sitting with kids, one-on-one, and finding where they might be struggling,” said Shannon Skoff, the second teacher in the program. “We can really connect with kids in a different way.”
The district started the program with grant money in January 2021 to address the needs of students who were “in limbo coming out of the pandemic” and weren’t coming to school when in-person learning restarted.
“They needed something different,” said Elton Davis, Boulder Valley student support services director. “We can fill the gap and support students and meet them where they are. It’s not just a person in front of a classroom giving me a lecture. They are truly caring and understanding. Students end up not wanting to leave.”
Davis added that, as students became disconnected from school, sometimes so did their parents.
“The world changed drastically for parents, too,” he said. “Then, all of a sudden, everybody was supposed to go back and have it be the same. We had to put in a lot of support for parents.”
He said staff members communicate regularly with families, sharing the students’ accomplishments and talking about any changes to their plans are needed. They also help connect families to resources.
“We’re not waiting for the twice-a-year parent teacher conferences,” Davis said.
Generally, students are recommended for the program by a principal, counselor or engagement specialist. Most are high schoolers, though a few are in middle school. Students may struggle to attend because of anxiety, medical needs, life challenges or learning differences.
“That first group of kiddos going back in person after the pandemic, it was really hard to walk back into a school,” Skoff said. “That’s been a continued struggle for some students. To offer a much, much smaller environment, it felt safe.”
The program is designed to help students earn academic credit while building social, emotional and life skills. Students may stay for a quarter, a semester or longer, depending on their situations.
Unlike a regular high school, there are no bells, no switching classes, no crowded hallways. Students attend for a half day, spending two hours working through one class at a time in an online program. Another hour is spent in a life skills class. Most take a class or two at their home high school for the other part of the day.
During the life skills class, mental health advocates Raquel Johnson and Paula Randazzo teach healthy coping skills, play games and lead art projects. Students can connect with staff members and each other, they said.
“It’s an opportunity to build on the idea that they belong here,” Randazzo said. “They’re getting to build relationships with trusted adults.”
Tutor Weston Hailey said the different backgrounds and strengths of the five-person staff allows them to meet the varied academic and social-emotional needs of the students.
“We’re able to fill in gaps for each other,” he said. “It’s a really cool way to cover all of these bases.”
He added that, without the demands of a large high school, they can create a low-pressure, supportive environment.
“Sometimes, it’s a victory for a student just to show up,” he said. “It’s a lot of work to navigate a larger high school. Our students can get the work they need to get done without feeling overly stressed.”
Luca, a senior at Fairview High, missed a semester when he took a medical leave and needed to make up credits quickly to graduate on time.
While there are other options to make up credits, he said, returning to his 1,800-student high school after being gone for a semester was creating a lot of anxiety. And he didn’t think he could stay focused if he tried an online-only option.
“This has really worked well,” he said. “To do one class at a time is a better way of doing school for me.”
He credited the program with keeping him on track to graduate so he could stick with his plan to attend his dream college, University College Cork in Ireland. He’s majoring in anthropology “in a place surrounded by age old history.”
“Without this program, I couldn’t get all my classes or get my GPA to where it needed to be,” he said. “The teachers here are really good at tutoring all subjects. It’s more personal here. The program has done a lot for me.”
Landon, a freshman, said he “just couldn’t do seven classes of school” at a time. After spending the morning in the program, he takes electives at Broomfield High and plays on the basketball team.
“This is a good way to focus on one class at a time,” he said. “I like getting extra help. I’m getting through classes more easily and learning more.”
While Luca was headed back to Fairview to finish out his senior year, Landon and his family are still figuring out if a traditional high school is the best option after he completes the program.
Boulder Universal Principal Eric Moroye, the administrator for the program, said staff members work with the student, family and their home school or a new school on a transition plan to make sure they can continue to be successful.
While some students return to their home high school, others take classes online or switch to an alternative school.
“It’s whatever the students need,” Moroye said. “For a segment of students, the traditional, industrialized model of education isn’t going to work.”
