June 30 Cuyahoga Falls School Board meeting:
Covered by Documenter Kelly Messner (see the notes here)
A new approach to ensure that all students, even those with disciplinary issues, have a viable path to graduation is being drafted by Cuyahoga Falls High School administrators.
Dubbed the Black Tiger Academy, the program targets students in grades 9-12 who have fallen behind because of chronic absenteeism, suspensions, expulsions or general struggles with the traditional classroom environment.
The goal is to provide a personalized path to catch students up with peers and facilitate a smoother reintegration into the classroom routine — especially after long absences.
If a return is unlikely or not in the student’s best interest, the program aims to help find an alternative path to graduation for them while still meeting the academic requirements.
Pilot program aims to support 15 to 30 students
The program is being designed by the high school’s Caitlin Mazi, an assistant principal, and Krista Kolich, an associate principal and career technical education supervisor They presented an overview of the program to the Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education June 30.
Mazi said they plan to run a pilot program starting this fall and adjust it based on capacity. The plan is to have two half-day sessions with no more than 15 students in each part.
The biggest challenge with this group of students is the multiple transitions built into a traditional day, Mazi told board members. “They can struggle if they are already starting off the year behind [with] staying on track,” she said.
The half-day academy is a “very intense-based intervention that would focus on making up those credits” the students need to graduate as well as keeping them on track Mazi explained.
Learning happens online with in-person support
The academy builds on an existing approach, Edmentum, that lets CFHS students take online classes. BTA ensures students have direct, guided support for their online coursework, particularly where this work has been self-guided in the past.
Unlike other programs, Kolich said, the academy will have teachers in the classroom with the students.
“The kids aren’t learning independently. There are teachers who are in there during that time who are supporting the students, who are working through the programs with them,” Kolich she said.
Along with the direct lesson support, teachers will “microtrack” students to make sure they are completing goals.
“Weekly, the teacher who is in there would be working with the kids to have meetings one-on-one with the students to track where they are in their classes, how much they have left, what their goals are,” Kolich said. Teachers will develop goal-tracking sheets to see what a student anticipates finishing in a given week. They will provide feedback and support to students on anything the student doesn’t finish.
These meetings will happen at a set time each week so the students can consistently anticipate and prepare for the meetings. Additionally, the program will utilize school counselors and social workers to help students with learning executive function skills such as goal setting, focusing, planning and staying organized.
Black Tiger Academy uses existing resources
Black Tiger Academy will also take into account where students are in their academic journey, distinguishing between freshmen and sophomores, who may have time to catch up to their classmates, and juniors and seniors, who may be short on time.
This consideration will extend to student work schedules for those who may be working a job as part of their specific path to graduation.
One of the core benefits of the program — and a stated requirement for it to exist — is that it does not cost the high school any additional money. Instead, the academy will attempt to better allocate existing resources and support current programs.
While BTA is still in its draft stage, the individualized approach to students fits with school board goals to serve the learning needs of each student.
Program goals include connecting with parents
Some of the overall goals of Black Tiger Academy, Mazi told the board, include:
- Identifying students using standard procedures.
- Making contact with parents.
- Providing an environment where students are learning the material, “not just floating through.”
- Ensuring student accountability.
- Creating an opportunity for students to chart their own pathway to graduation.
- Completing semester progress checks.
- Involving the family and other outside resources.
- Deciding where a student goes after the academy. This could include moving back to the traditional classroom or staying in BTA until graduation.
