News Coverage

The road to graduation (DeKalb, Ill.)

Dana Herra — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Kleady Armenta, 18, is one of 48 DeKalb High School students finishing her diploma in the DeKalb Ombudsman program.
The alternative program offers a shorter school day and more one-on-one instruction to students struggling in the
traditional high school setting. (Dana Herra — dherra@shawmedia.com)

DeKALB – Kenny Veopraseuth was worried. In his junior year at DeKalb High School, Veopraseuth knew he wouldn’t have enough credits in a year to graduate. A night owl by nature, he had a hard time concentrating early in the day, and his schoolwork suffered for it.

“I wouldn’t have dropped out,” said Veopraseuth, now a 19-year-old senior scheduled to graduate in June. “I want to make my parents proud. But I had to do something because I knew I wouldn’t graduate, and I’d rather have my diploma than a GED.”

Veopraseuth talked to a counselor at the high school and was referred into DeKalb’s Ombudsman program, an alternative program operated by a private company under contract with the school district. Students in the program complete the state’s core standards curriculum, but attend class in small groups for only three hours a day.

“It’s awesome,” said Veopraseuth, who attends classes in the afternoons. “I’m more focused later in the day, and I have a job, so this works a lot better. You don’t get to hang out with your friends, like in the lunchroom and stuff, but getting my diploma is better than socializing.”

The students can complete their work in fewer hours because 80 percent of it is computer-based and they receive all of the assignments at the beginning of the semester, said Heather Wawak, director of the DeKalb Ombudsman center. That means it is up to students when or whether they take work home, and it is easy for them to work ahead if they want to.

There are three sessions per day at the Ombudsman center, with 16 students each, Wawak said. Three teachers staff the center.

“The student has to want to participate to be here. We believe in student choice,” Wawak said. “For students who were struggling and need extra support and who want a diploma, we have a good success rate.”

In 2011, 100 percent of the seniors enrolled at the center graduated, Wawak said. So far this year, 11 have already graduated early, and 16 are set to graduate in June. Because the program is an extension of the school district, the students can still participate in DHS extracurricular activities and can receive a diploma at the graduation ceremony with their class.

Kishwaukee Education Consortium also offers a route to graduation for students struggling in the mainstream.

The consortium offers an alternative education program to all DeKalb County high schools and Rochelle Township High School. About 150 students are currently enrolled in the alternative program, executive director Tom Crouch said. Most struggled with grades or truancy in mainstream high school.

Like Ombudsman, KEC offers small class sizes – about 12 students per class – and one-on-one attention. It also matches every student with an adult mentor and encourages participation in clubs and extracurricular activities, principal Derrick Burress said. Students at KEC are also considered students at their home schools, so transcripts show their diploma came from their home school.

Both programs are a blessing to educators, said Jessica Stewart, program coordinator for secondary support services at DeKalb District 428. Many of the students who end up in the programs would have dropped out without that option. According to the American Council on Education, dropouts are six to eight times more likely to be incarcerated than those with a high school diploma, are less likely to hold a full-time job and make less money on average.

“One-size-fits-all just doesn’t suit everybody,” Stewart said. “Without these options there would be a lot of frustration from a staff standpoint and a student standpoint. Some students’ needs are just so different.”

Ryan Garcia, 18, of Malta is scheduled to graduate from KEC in December. He struggled to keep up his grades in a mainstream high school, he said.

“I feel like a human being here,” he said. “At other schools, when I got bad grades I was treated like I was a bad person. Here, the teachers want to help me, not treat me like a discipline problem.”

Kleady Armenta, who is scheduled to graduate in June from the Ombudsman program, said she had always struggled with school, and when she became pregnant her junior year her family and friends advised her drop out and take the GED test. She said she’s glad a counselor referred her to Ombudsman.

“I can have a job, go to school for my diploma and still be a mom,” she said. “The teachers really help you. They can go over things until you understand.”

Teachers at both schools said there is no feeling to compare to watching a student who never thought they would graduate begin making plans for college or a career.

“It’s unbelievable,” Burress said. “To see these kids succeed, to see how proud they are and their parents are, it’s great.”

Original link: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=13ECAFCCEE88FE90&p_docnum=1

Breaking New Ground: Largest group yet graduates from Ombudsman Center (Grand Island, Neb.)

Harold Reutter — Tue, 15 May 2012 03:00:00 GMT

Grand Island Ombudsman graduate Tavish Gewecke poses for a photo with Dr. Robert Winter,
Superintendent of Grand Island Public Schools, Monday during the Ombudsman graduation ceremony.
(Zach Mayhew/For The Independent)

Monday’s Ombudsman commencement ceremony was not nearly as big as the one for other Grand Island Public Schools graduates, but it was greeted with the very same excitement and enthusiasm as Sunday’s graduation in the Heartland Events Center.

Eighteen students received high school diplomas Monday during a ceremony at the Grand Island Ombudsman Center, 2300 N. Webb Road Suite 10.

Nearly every seat that had been set up for the afternoon graduation was filled by family and friends of the 18 graduations, which Linda Sanders, Ombudsman Center director, identified as the largest group of graduates in the program’s short history in Grand Island.

Ombudsman has commencement ceremonies twice a year, in December and in May. Following Monday’s graduation, Sanders said the two ceremonies for the 2011-12 school year celebrated the graduation of 30 students.

“That’s about double what we had last year,” she said.

Sanders opened the ceremony by welcoming everyone who had come to witness a great day of celebration “for the kids who are part of this Class of 2012.”

She noted that not all 18 students who were recognized as graduates in the program were able to be physically present for the ceremony. Sanders said one student came from Massachusetts because he’d heard about the Ombudsman program and wanted to take advantage of it to earn a high school diploma. But even after he arrived in Grand Island, that student had to fight to get his diploma because he had no ride to the education center on North Webb Road.

Sanders said another graduate, whose family was moving to Arizona, made sure to stay in Grand Island to earn all the credits needed for graduation before finally making the move.

Neither of those students was able to be at the graduation.

All 18 students faced their own particular challenges in getting their high school diplomas. Sanders said some students were able to use the online curriculum to graduate a little early, while others in Monday’s graduation class were fifth-year seniors, who had to talk the school district into giving them one more chance to graduate.

Some student speakers talked about holding down two jobs while going to the Ombudsman program. Others talked about finding people who they thought really cared about them, while some talked about being able to succeed with a hands-on curriculum.

Sanders said that some of Monday’s graduates had been with Ombudsman for two years. Some who had been in the program the longest saw the parent company of the Ombudsman program change some attendance guidelines, as well as the curriculum. Although that might have been discouraging, students did not give up.

Grand Island Superintendent Rob Winter used one of the themes he had during Sunday’s graduation ceremony by pointing out that the root word for “commencement” is “commence.” He said commence means “to begin,” and graduation is a beginning, not an ending.

Winter also said that graduation happens for students who make very deliberate decisions about their future.

“You would not be here today if you had not made a choice,” he said.

By choosing to graduate, the 18 students had greatly brightened their prospects for higher earnings and a brighter future than young people who chose not to get a diploma, Winter said. “That’s nothing new.

The superintendent urged students to continue to make good choices as they move forward into the military, the world of work or additional education.

Sanders assured the students that Ombudsman is there not just to help them get high school diplomas. She told the newly minted graduates that, should they ever encounter a difficult problem to solve, especially if it involves college education, they should come back and talk to the Ombudsman staff to get help.

MAY 2012 GRADUATES
Mohamed Abdi
Vantasia Camper
Consuelo “Tina” Deollos
Cara Dixon
Huber Erives
Anastasia Garza
Tavish Gewecke
Luis Green-Chavez
Brittney Landholm
Jordan Lemburg
Alexander Martinez
Bryan Mejia
Zerjio Perez
Domingo Rivera
Nalleli Salazar
Krista Shultz
Victor Trevizo
Javier Wing

Original link: http://www.theindependent.com/news/local/largest-group-yet-graduates-from-ombudsman-center/article_f5b69914-9e3d-11e1-8f0d-0019bb2963f4.html

Educational Services of America named winner of 2012 Citrix Innovation Award

Citrix — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:46:35 GMT

Citrix Innovation Award 2012

Citrix has some of the most innovative customers anywhere, and each year we showcase the best examples with our Citrix Innovation Award. Now in its seventh year, this prestigious award recognizes visionary customers who are using Citrix solutions for virtualization, networking and the cloud to drive innovation and IT simplicity.

Educational Services of America

Congratulations Educational Services of America, winner of the 2012 Citrix Innovation Award at Synergy San Francisco! Special thanks to all of our finalists for sharing their inspiring stories of business transformation and innovation with Citrix.

Educational Services of America (ESA) is the leading U.S. provider of alternative and special education programs for students at risk of dropping out and those with special needs. ESA uses Citrix virtualization and collaboration solutions as the foundation of its private cloud strategy to deliver targeted learning resources to more than 12,000 students any time and on any device.

Original link: http://bitly.com/CitrixESA

Case Study: Educational Services of America teams with public schools

Annie Johnson — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Mark Claypool is president and CEO of Educational Services of America.
Photo credit: James Yates, Nashville Business Journal

As a former Tennessee social worker, Mark Claypool knows a few things about under served markets.

Namely, he realized that the children he saw come in and out of the state system lacked a basic thing: education.

For the past 13 years, Claypool has worked to change that. He launched Educational Services of America from his dining room table in 1999 with no money. Now, his 1,400-person company is growing fast. Last year, revenue was $96 million, up from $78 million in 2010.

Claypool attributed his company’s success to first finding an under served business niche and then creating partnerships that work in concert with school systems, not against them.

The company, which operates K-12 alternative and special education schools, now serves more than 10,000 students, with programs in 20 states. The company was one of Middle Tennessee’s fastest-growing firms in 2010, finding itself on the Inc. 5000.

“In my opinion, the majority of these companies are really trying to reform public education. They are there to be almost antagonistic to the public system, and we didn’t want to do that,” Claypool said. “We wanted to work within the system to help the lives of kids, but we’re not here to disrupt the public systems or be a competitor to public school systems.”

In an effort to make that work, ESA has bought several decades-old companies and re-fostered those relationships based on the current needs of at-risk youth.

Every year, ESA sits down with public school systems to determine where students need the most help. Two of ESA’s major programs, for example, focus on dropout prevention and special education.

“We find out where they have pain,” Claypool said. “If we hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t have retained those relationships.”

But, as Claypool will attest, it doesn’t always work out like that. In Nashville, for example, ESA lost its contract with Metro schools when Jesse Register took the helm.

“When things don’t work out, I would say the failure that I feel personally is that we didn’t have a close enough relationship with the leadership of that school district,” he said.

It’s a place where ESA will continue to place its focus as it plans more aggressive growth over the next few years.

Claypool said the firm plans to enhance and increase programs for special needs students and dropouts, especially as more national data indicates a growing problem.

He cited a recent statistic as his reason for moving fast: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last month that one in 88 American children has some form of autism.

“We are really working on solutions … to keep kids in the mainstream so that they have a more normal experience,” he said.

Premium content from Nashville Business Journal by Annie Johnson, Staff Reporter

Original link: http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/print-edition/2012/04/27/educational-services-of-america.html?page=all

Savannah-Chatham School system trying something new when it comes to alternative education (Savannah, Ga.)

Tina Tyus-Shaw — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Scott Alternative Learning Center Outsourcing Plan

(Savannah, GA) - An aggressive change is coming to Scott Alternative Learning Center. When students step into classes next school year, they will be under a different form of leadership. School higher-ups believe outsourcing is the best direction for Scott. That's why they're bringing in a private company to help run the alternative school.

"We found academically, our children were very far behind. We felt like if we could provide a stronger academic program to our students in an alternative situation, then we would be able to get better results," says SCCPSS Chief Academic Officer Sharon Sand.

The company winning the deal is Ombudsman Educational Services based in Libertyville, Illinois. Make no mistake, this is a partnership. Chatham County school leaders will remain deeply involved in their education. Under the plan, reading will be a major focus for students at Scott.

"They assess kids' reading and they have a very strong online reading program that every child is required to participate in to get their reading skills to where they need to be."

The school system expects to save about a million dollars a year by outsourcing, but saving money, according to Sharon Sand, was not the ultimate goal.

"We were spending a lot of money at Scott, and we just didn't feel we were getting the results that we needed, so yes, the money definitely played into it. But again, I want to stress that it's about academic success for children."

So where do current employees stand?

"We have no doubt that every one of our teachers that are at Scott will be placed in jobs if they want them within our school system."

Teachers and administrators have also been given the nod to apply with ombudsman if they desire.

"What do you say, Sharon, to people in the community who will be skeptical?"

"And we expect to have skeptics, and that's okay because we want folks to question because we know they're concerned. My response would be we're just not happy with the results that we're getting, and you know if you keep doing the same thing, you're going to get the same results.

And so we feel the need to step outside the box and try something different."

Outsourcing at Scott begins when students return from summer break.

Original link: http://www2.wsav.com/news/2012/apr/18/scott-alternative-learning-center-outsourcing-plan-ar-3630794/

Nashville People in Business: ESA CEO Mark Claypool named to Book'em Board

Staff Reports — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Nashville People in Business
Nonprofits

Book’em has named its officers and board members for 2012. Cindee Gold, a community volunteer, is president. Leigh Lindsey, of McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations, is vice president/president-elect. Brandon Harrison, of Kraft Healthcare Consulting, is treasurer. Caroline Burris, of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute, is secretary, and Tonya Horton, of SunTrust Bank, is past president.

Board members are LaTricea Adams (Brentwood Middle School), Jemina Boyd (Crowe Horwath), Todd Carter (Pinnacle Financial Partners), Mark Claypool (Educational Services of America/Ombudsman Educational Services/Spectrum Center Schools and Programs), Elizabeth Davis (Cumberland Pharmaceuticals), Brenda Gadd (Frost Brown Todd LLC), Bruce Gallo (National Corporate Research), Verda Gibbs (Metro Nashville Public Schools), Enam Haque (Healthspring), Reba Holmes (Comdata Network Inc.), William Howorth (HCA), Shane Ivey (Noble Sidekick), Jenny Lee (SunTrust Bank), Susan Patten Markel (Sarah Cannon Research Institute), Nicole Marks (Walmart Pharmacy), Mary McCarthy (Ingram Book Group), Shane Morris (Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP), Kenya Newby (Charlotte Park Elementary School), Leslie Newman (HCA), Emily Ogden (Grassroots Strategy LLC), Jake Ramsey (KIPP Academy Nashville), Sarah Rochford (Phi Kappa Tau National Fraternity), Tracy Rode (Vision 3 Interactive), Sheryl Rogers (Books from Birth of Middle Tennessee), Victoria Ross (Nashville Public Library, Edmondson Pike branch), Brian Sims (Office of General Counsel, Tennessee Department of Health), Mary Comfort Stevens (Vanderbilt University), Tim Stewart (Belmont University), Angel Viera (Robert Churchwell Magnet Elementary School) and Lynn Vincent (McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations).

Original link: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120408/BUSINESS01/304080084/Nashville-People-in-Business

NCSS hopes to graduate more students with Ombudsman (Covington, Ga.)

Michelle Floyd — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 06:00:00 GMT

COVINGTON -- The Newton County School System hopes to produce more graduates with its new alternative school program.

Samantha Fuhrey, executive director of Secondary Education at NCSS, recently informed the Newton County Board of Education that system officials are identifying more high school dropouts and those at risk for not graduating and trying to encourage them to enroll in the Ombudsman program.

Ombudsman, which is located on the Bypass Road in Covington, is the private company being used by NCSS for the first time this school year to run the alternative program. The school board made the decision last year to outsource its alternative education program to save nearly $2 million and, hopefully, see more positive academic results than with Sharp Learning Center.

Currently, about 140 students are enrolled in the program, which serves middle and high school students.

Fuhrey expects the program, which is budgeted for a maximum of 200 students this year, to grow because of a push for finding students at risk of not graduating, although she doesn't have any concrete figures yet.

"The number of students utilizing the Ombudsman program as a non-traditional path to graduation fluctuates based upon our efforts to identify candidates and enrollment of students new to the district," Fuhrey said.

She said graduation coaches, counselors and the English as a Second Language coordinator are finding and talking to students who dropped out or who are thinking of dropping out and informing them of the option to enroll in Ombudsman.

"We have reviewed lists of students who have been withdrawn with a state-identified drop-out code," Fuhrey said.

Additionally, system staff members are discussing the Ombudsman option with current students who many not earn credit this year and are considering dropping out, as well as talking about Ombudsman with the Juvenile Court system, the Division of Family and Children Services and other community agencies.

"We are working diligently to decrease the rate that students are dropping out by offering them a non-traditional option via the Ombudsman program," Fuhrey said.

They also identify overaged middle school students and offer them a chance to catch up on classes at Ombudsman so they can be placed in a high school at the appropriate age. Some 16-year-old students are allowed to enroll in the eighth grade, Fuhrey said, but others may have to participate in the program.

"Students of this age are already at risk of not completing high school," she said.

Several school board members said they have heard "good things" about the program.

"I've got a lot of positive responses from students there," said school board member Almond Turner. "I think we're doing a good thing."

Ombudsman students attend three- or four-hour sessions each weekday, and about 70 percent of the curriculum is computer-based with the other portion being teacher-led instruction and remediation.

Before the program opened last year, Ombudsman representatives reported that 85 percent of its students graduate from the program, successfully return to their home schools or complete an enrollment period with Ombudsman. Overall, students improved in math, vocabulary, spelling and reading, according to entry and exit exams at its programs in about 25 school systems and nearly 50 sites in Georgia.

Last semester, about 60 percent of about 200 students were transitioned back to their home schools after following the school's behavior expectations, attendance policy, center rules and passing a majority of their courses, Ombudsman officials reported in January.

For the 2009-10 school year, the failure rate for Sharp students on state-required End of Course Tests were between 53 and 93 percent. The failure rate for the middle school Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests were between 24 and 93 percent, NCSS reported.

The overall graduation rate for NCSS in 2011 was 85 percent, according to the Georgia Department of Education. That is up from 84.2 percent last school year, up about 2 percent from the previous year and up more than 28 percent from seven and eight years ago.

Original Link: http://www.newtoncitizen.com/news/2012/mar/15/ncss-hopes-to-graduate-more-students-with/

First Ombudsman graduates continuing educations (Clarksdale, Miss.)

Troy Catchings — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:30:00 GMT

Christopher McLaurin (left) and Larry Mitchell (right) are the first graduates of Ombudsman Educational Services in Clarksdale. McLaurin is a freshman business major at Phoenix University. Williams is a Coahoma Community College freshman seeking a certificate in a carpentry trade. Standing with the graduates are staff members (from left) Shirley Saddler, Dorothy Jones, Director Sherri Williams and Catherine Holmes.

Original Link: http://www.pressregister.com/news/article_09be6d42-5c99-11e1-9b7f-001871e3ce6c.html?cbst=75

High school dropouts get a second chance at diploma (Detroit)

Tara Edwards — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:30:00 GMT

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Darrell Smith used to be a student with failing grades.

Now the senior high school student’s report card is full of A’s and B’s. He believes it’s because of the teaching style at Fusion Academy.

"They make sure we’re here on time. If not, they’ll come get us," says Smith.

Fusion Academy has two locations in Detroit, one on the west side and the other on the east side. At the two schools students can get one on one help from teachers.

The academy also has a virtual campus where those enrolled can take courses on the web.

The program helps students who have dropped out of high school get back on track.

The program is designed to help those from 14-years-old to 20-years-old earn a high school diploma.

“How much time and effort you’re willing to put in, the quicker you’re able to earn credits and the quicker you’re able to reach that goal of getting that diploma,” says math teacher Misty Elder.

The charter school is partnered with Ferris State University and receives funding from the state. Classes are free to students across Michigan.

The goal of the academy is to see at least 80 percent of students get their diploma this year. Teachers also offer programs to help them excel at the ACT and SAT.

They also show the students how to apply to technical schools and colleges.

“Whatever our students are looking to do next we try to provide them with resources. We have speakers come in,” said Elder. “We had someone from ITT Tech come in a few months ago.”

Smith wants to go to Michigan State University to study engineering. He used to think high school was a chore. Now with the flexibility of taking classes online and teachers that offer him extra help, he has changed his mind.

“I used to skip school every day. So it changed me because I come every day now and now I’m committed to my work and looking at the world differently,” said Smith.

The academy will be enrolling new students in the fall. For more information you can call (313) 452-3901 or go to the academy’s website at www.FAMDetroit.com/ENROLL .

Original Link: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/detroit/high-school-dropouts-get-a-second-chance-at-diploma

School provides alternative route to diploma (Seneca, Mo.)

Whitney Saporito — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:15:00 GMT

Dr. Steve Wilmoth, Seneca R-7 Superintendent cuts the ribbon at the Ombudsman Alternative School open house, as Allison O'Neill, Ombudsman Chief Operating Officer, and Josh Dodson, Seneca Chamber of Commerce President, stand on either side of him. The new alternative school held a ribbon cutting and open house Wednesday evening.
Photo credit: Neosho Daily News

Seneca, Mo. — Residents had the opportunity to check out the latest addition to downtown Seneca Wednesday afternoon at the Ombudsman Alternative school open house and ribbon cutting.

The school, which opened in January, offers an alternate route for 30 at-risk students in the Seneca R-7 school district to work their way toward a high school diploma. Students in grades six and up are eligible for the program.

Split into two sessions, a morning class that goes from 8 a.m. to noon, and an afternoon class from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., the classes are anything but traditional, a change many of the students seem to prefer.

“We have a lot of at-risk students who aren’t graduating and we have them here trying to get them back on track,” said Seneca R-7 Superintendent Dr. Steve Wilmoth. “We owe it to the community to help these kids get a diploma.”

Wilmoth first approached the school board about the alternative school in November, urging them to help address the growing number of students who would not graduate on time, or ever, without some kind of help.

Board members approved the program unanimously, costing the district a pro-rated amount of $108,000 this semester. For the 2012-2013 school year, the district will pay approximately $200 more per student than the amount of funding the state provides, at $6,850 per student.

Wilmoth said those numbers are feasible, and when it means a student who may not have graduated otherwise receives their diploma, it’s worth it.

“It’s really a washout,” Wilmoth said. “If we can get half of these kids to graduate that would’ve been dropouts there’s not even a dollar sign to top it.”

Ombudsman is an organization based out of the Chicago, Ill. area. They offer at-risk students an alternate route to earn a high school diploma by partnering with school districts throughout the country. Currently they have locations in 20 states and are accredited through AdvancED, a unified organization of accreditation outlets. The Seneca location is their second in the state.

Ombudsman manages the alternative school site, provides the learning tools, such as computers and books, and employs the center director and teachers.

For the district’s part, in addition to the flat rate they pay per student, they also still provide numerous services to the students. Those enrolled in the alternative school are still listed on the district’s enrollment rolls, may still participate in district extracurricular activities, still receive the same diploma, and may still take part in the traditional high school graduation.

However, a school day for those students is much different than it is for their peers.

Upon arrival, students consult their own individualized syllabus, and then begin a 30-minute reading period. Following that exercise, it is the student’s decision which subject to tackle first. They click through the lessons on their computers, and have the option of switching subjects at any time.

Clayton Brewer is a senior in high school, and just began his last semester by switching to the alternative school.

“If it wasn’t for this place, I wouldn’t graduate,” he said.

For students like Brewer, one of the perks of the new program is the hands-on attention the small classroom size allows.

With two teachers and 15 students present for each class, the student to teacher ratio is much more manageable than in a traditional classroom setting.

“It makes us be able to come in here and work at our own pace,” Brewer said. “They care about each and every one of us, they’re not trying to take care of the whole school like [at the high school].”

Amanda Rinehart, center director, said the extra help she and other staff members are able to provide to the students makes all the difference.

“Our student to teacher ratio is really incredible,” Rinehart said. “A lot of times in a traditional classroom you’ve got one teacher and 25 or 30 students, so it’s very hard to give that one student the time they need. We can do that.”

Though the program is still in the early stages, both Rinehart and Wilmoth say they have already seen improvement in numerous students, in both behavior and academics.

“A lot of the behaviors that were recurring in the traditional classroom format aren’t occurring over here,” Rinehart said. “It’s made a giant difference to change the environment for them.”

She said with the four-hour day, many students are making the most of that extra time. Some students work, while others, such as Brewer, are taking classes at Crowder College.

Allison O’Neill, chief operating officer at Ombudsman, flew in from Chicago for Wednesday’s open house. She said the Seneca community has been more than accommodating for the new program.

“The program always starts with conversations with the local school district,” O’Neill said. “What we want to find out is what are their needs, and then build something together that’s going to fill those needs. We want to work together to find something that is going to work for the kids.”

The new alternative school is located on Cherokee Ave., in what was previously an abandoned theater. Before Ombudsman took it over last fall, the building had sat empty since 1978.

Wilmoth said the district is looking at expanding the number of students the alternative school will accommodate.

Ombudsman charges the district a per seat rate, not per individual student. If the district were to decide to expand, they would simply purchase additional seats. Wilmoth said he will likely approach the school board about that expansion in the future.

Original link: http://www.neoshodailynews.com/news/x132493552/School-provides-alternative-route-to-diploma?zc_p=0

Newton students move into Ombudsman building (Covington, Ga.)

Michelle Floyd — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:00:00 GMT

COVINGTON -- Newton County School System's alternative education program finally has a permanent location.

Ombudsman, the private company being used by NCSS this year to run its alternative program, moved into its stand-alone building on the Bypass Road after waiting for months to find a location.

"The staff did a wonderful job finalizing the move on Saturday and Sunday," said John Wacha, assistant vice president of Center Operations for Ombudsman.

He said everything is now fully operational after the program was transferred from the Sharp Learning Center facility on Newton Drive.

Since the beginning of the school year, the program has been housed at the Sharp facility because the state Department of Education failed to approve two sites in Newton County due to their proximity to locations that sold alcohol.

The new location is located at 10714 Bypass Road near the school system's transportation facility.

It is 10,000 square feet and houses two separate programs of about 4,000 square feet each on opposite sides of the building with a 2,000-square-foot office space between the two entrances, which is about 50 yards apart.

"We've had a good response from visitors to the center," Wacha said. "It presents a nice high-tech state of the art facility."

Wacha said 123 students in sixth through 12th grades currently are enrolled in the program this semester.

He said he doesn't have a final figure of what his company will end up paying NCSS for the use of Sharp last semester, but it will amount to $345 per day, plus utilities that it has been paying.

Ombudsman also paid for the lease space for two other spaces they reserved earlier this year for the two sites.

Wacha said his company has been in contact with the Georgia Department of Education and the state house and senate to discuss changes to the law that prohibited its new centers across the state from opening in locations near a grocery store and a restaurant because they sold alcohol.

The program plans to hold an open house at the new building later this semester. Wacha said parents of current students, as well as any NCSS employee, can stop by anytime the facility is open to view the facility and students.

NCSS saved $1,941,962 from its general fund budget this school year by eliminating the Sharp Learning Center alternative education program and contracting with Ombudsman to provide the alternative education services. With the Ombudsman program, NCSS expects to spend $1,245,500 on alternative education this year.

Original link: http://www.newtoncitizen.com/news/2012/jan/25/newton-students-move-into-ombudsman-building/

Fusion Academy helping dropouts revive their dreams (Detroit)

Matt LaPlante — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:45:00 GMT

Dazmon Taylor was bullied, threatened, intimidated and ostracized.

"I couldn't handle it," Taylor told The Detroit News, "so I just stopped going to school altogether."

Taylor was on his way to becoming a victim of the nation's inexcusable dropout epidemic when he saw an advertisement for Fusion Academy of Michigan. The school is a partnership between virtual school operator Connections Education and alternative education provider Ombudsman Educational Services to help students in the Detroit area who have dropped out of high school earn the credits they need to graduate.

"We have room for 300 students, and about 150 are enrolled so far," said Ombudsman's Jenni Leeds.

Students who are younger than 20 and coded as dropouts in the Michigan Student Data System are eligible to enroll. Graduates earn an accredited high school diploma, and tuition is free.

Because many students need a flexible schedule due to work or family responsibilities, Fusion Academy offers three daily school sessions at each of its Detroit locations. Each session is four and one-half hours long, supplemented by additional remote coursework.

The program was a perfect fit for Dazmon, who wants to be a clinical psychologist.

"Having something like this is a blessing," he said. "I want to help people who are dealing with mental illnesses, so I can be that vessel they can come talk to instead of running away from their problems like I did."

Original link: http://www.nodropouts.org/blog/fusion-academy-helping-dropouts-revive-their-dreams

Ombudsman students reflect at graduation (Grand Island, Neb.)

Harold Reutter — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:00:00 GMT

It was standing room only Friday for the audience at Ombudsman’s midterm commencement, which was given a planes, trains and automobiles theme by Superintendent Rob Winter.

Twelve students earned high school diplomas from the Grand Island Public Schools, with 11 of them participating in the ceremony at the Ombudsman Center, 2300 N. Webb Road.

So many friends, relatives and classmates from the Ombudsman alternative education program attended the graduation that there were not enough chairs.

That was true even though center Director Linda Sanders said she had transported numerous chairs to the site in an attempt to have enough seating. But she definitely was pleased with the turnout.

Sanders said, by looking at all the young people’s supporters in the large audience, "I can see another reason they are here. These are 12 very special students."

"They worked hard," Sanders said during her opening remarks.

After the students had walked down the center aisle of the chairs set up for the event, Sanders asked Winter to come forward and make a few remarks. Just like Sanders, Winter was happy to see so many people at Ombudsman to share in the students’ graduation.

"How neat is it that we don’t have enough chairs?" he said. "That is pretty cool."

Winter asked both students and audience members to take an imaginary trip to Denver. He asked them to envision an automobile traveling west on Interstate 80 in Nebraska before it begins to head southwest on Interstate 76, going by Sterling and other towns before it finally arrives in Denver.

Then Winter asked people to imagine somebody who didn’t quite have confidence in his car and didn’t want to make a seven-hour drive to Denver in the winter. Consequently, that person drives to Hastings to board Amtrak for the trip west. The Amtrak passenger does not have to worry about whether it snows and might even want to read a book while riding on the train, until it finally arrives in downtown Denver.

Finally, Winter asked people to imagine another traveler whose biggest desire was to avoid the seven hours it would take to drive to Denver and the even longer time it might take for an Amtrak train to get there. That person decides to drive to Kearney, board a plane and fly into Denver International Airport.

Winter said the important thing for each of those travelers is not their mode of transportation. The most important fact is that all are in Denver.

The same thing is true for Friday’s graduates, Winter said. Each of the students may have taken a different route through school, but the important thing is that they were all there on Friday, ready to receive their diplomas.

Winter told the students and audience members that he wanted to repeat one thing from the remarks he made to midterm graduates who participated in Thursday’s commencement at Senior High.

The most important thing about graduation is not the present moment, Winter said. Neither is it the celebrations that students, friends and family may have later this year. The most important thing is the doors that will open for students in six months, one year or two years because of the diploma they earned on Friday.

Short speeches by three of Friday’s graduates showed that each of the 12 students has indeed taken a unique path to graduation. Rosangelica Flores thanked the Ombudsman staff for helping her get to graduation, the same thank-you also offered by the other two speakers, Tyler Wiegert and Lauren Bopp.

Flores also thanked her family for support and noted she plans to begin college in January.

Sanders introduced Wiegert, noting he came to Grand Island from California. For his part, Wiegert said, "I never thought I would graduate at home."

He said he was a person prone to getting in trouble, which is why he came to Nebraska. Wiegert did not think the move would make a difference, but it did. He thanked his grandparents for their support in helping him graduate, and he expressed optimism about the future.

Bopp said her path took her from Central Catholic to Senior High in a journey where she almost did not graduate because of "underestimating my abilities." She views Ombudsman as the "only place I had a chance at graduation."

Bopp said she believed it was all right for her and her fellow Ombudsman students to feel a little nervous on Friday because "this is the most important day in our lives."

She quoted President Theodore Roosevelt, who said, "A man who has never gone to school can steal from a freight car, but a man with an education can own the whole railroad." Bopp said she likes that quotation because it shows what a difference education can make in a person’s life. She concluded by wishing her fellow graduates well.

"It’s time to say goodbye to Ombudsman and start working our way to our next goal," Bopp said.

With that, it was time for Sanders and Winter to present students with their high school diplomas, a moment that was marked by cheers and applause each time one of the young people took hold of his or her diploma.

Winter took care that students paused long enough that friends and family could get good photos of the moment. After that, everyone enjoyed punch and cake, while mingling with one another and taking graduation photos.

As for Sanders, she had already promised to try to round up more chairs for the May 2012 Ombudsman graduation

Grand Island Ombudsman Class of 2012

Lauren Bopp, Jesica Casares, Nathan Dice, Rosangelica Flores, Tessa Flynn, Andrew Gillham, Danny Huerta, Maxwell Lynn, Alexis Martinez, Timothy Padron, Karlina Rambi and Tyler Wiegert.

Original link: http://www.theindependent.com/news/local/ombudsman-students-reflect-at-graduation/article_9b33d32f-9805-5c24-bdf3-cbf6c90a02d7.html

A Second Chance Education (Grand Island, Neb.)

Annie Andrews — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:00:00 GMT

In Grand Island Friday, high school seniors who made that choice years before, assembled for a day they never thought they would see – graduation.

The Ombudsman Program, part of Grand Island Public Schools, is giving students a second chance; kids that had the world stacked against them and now are learning the world is at their feet.

"There were a lot of kids in my class I wasn't getting enough attention and I kind of gave up on myself," said Lauren Bopp, a new graduate. Two years ago, Lauren was one of 500 kids that were about to give up on their high school education in the state of Nebraska.

"I was thinking she might not graduate and I was awfully worried about her," said John Bopp, Lauren's dad.

‘Giving up' is a pattern teachers at Grand Island's Ombudsman program see in kids walking through their door. "Not every kid fits into the public school system it's like a round hole and a square peg," said Bob Cook, a teacher.

Traditional high school hasn't fit for these kids, so teachers are sizing education to the student. "It's more one on one with teachers and there are not as many kids not as much to deal with," said Tyler Weigert, a recent graduate.

"There are four teachers that will drop what they're doing to help you," said Bopp. It seems simple, but for many of these kids, having someone help them is a first.

"Last year there was a student who said the first week of school ‘well, you guys will all be gone soon,'" said Cook. "I looked at him and said, ‘what do you mean' and he's like ‘everyone quits on us.'"

"All kids can learn and all kids can be successful if you give them the right tools and the right environment," said Dr. Rob Winter, GIPS Superintendent.

For the recent graduates, the Ombudsman Program was the right fit. "I think everyone would be proud of me, I didn't think I would be able to do it," said Weigert.

For Lauren, her future is finally in focus.

"I plan to go to college and be an optical assistant."

Original link: http://www.nebraska.tv/story/16344507/a-second-chance-education

New alternative high school serves as last resort for diploma (Sioux Falls, S.D.)

Josh Verges — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:14:00 GMT

Students who've fallen way behind get help

Lincoln freshmen Gerson Burgos works on his school work with his teacher Jay Oldham as the school board tours the Ombudsman alternative high school. The school helps students who are way behind on reading and math skills. / Emily Spartz-Argus Leader

A new Sioux Falls alternative high school operated by a Nashville-based company already has graduated two students and almost all of its enrollment slots are filled.

The Ombudsman school, run at a strip mall at 46th Street and Western Avenue, is the Sioux Falls School District’s answer for students most at risk of dropping out.

The students generally hold jobs while attending the school for three hours each day. Far behind their peers in credit acquisition and often lacking basic math and reading skills, they learn on computers with help from on-site teachers.

Like at Joe Foss Alternative School, students can pick up graduation credits faster than at a traditional school.

But with only 25 seats for each of the three blocks of time, Ombudsman provides a smaller school environment. Ombudsman also can help students with remedial work, where Foss students must be reading at the sixth-grade level or better.

“We needed a program that could embed that basic instruction while at the same time they’re acquiring those credits to graduate,” Superintendent Pam Homan said Wednesday during a tour with the school board.

Gerson Burgos left Lincoln High School for Ombudsman one month into the school year. He worked instead of going to school last year after moving from South Carolina, and despite being 18, he is classified as a freshman.

Burgos still works at a restaurant and attends Ombudsman from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. daily with plans of graduating within two years. He wants to be an airplane mechanic.

“I want to have a better life. I don’t want to be cooking all my life,” he said.

Having grown up with parents who speak Spanish and Portuguese, Burgos said his teachers help him with his reading.

The school is a last-resort path to a diploma. Unlike some of the other 340 schools Ombudsman runs across the country, the Sioux Falls site is not for students with behavioral problems.

At $4,300 per student, Ombudsman costs the school district slightly less than what it receives in state aid.

School director Nicole Fette said students mostly work independently on their computers but also get math and English instruction from teachers.

For every student, the goal is graduating. And when they do, another student soon takes their place, referred from their high schools or Joe Foss.

“We have some students obviously who just don’t show up and get dropped, (but) we don’t sit open for very long,” Fette said.

Snapshot: Ombudsman alternative high school

Target: Students most at risk of dropping out
Where: 3817 S. Western Ave.
Enrollment: Up to 76 students attend daily in three-hour shifts, starting at 7:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
How students are chosen: Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Joe Foss administrators refer students who lack literacy and numeracy skills and are far behind in graduation credits.
Degree: High school diploma

Original link: http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011312090010