Program Prevents Dropouts

A dropout prevention and acceleration program is taking off in the southeast, particularly South Carolina. And with the national dropout rate at about 24 percent, according to State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell's First Annual Report on Dropouts and Graduates released in July 2008, preventing dropouts will prevent students in our education system from falling through the cracks.

The Star Academy Program was implementated at Simpson Alternative Center for Education in Pickens County, S.C., and was awarded the National Dropout Prevention Center's Crystal Star Program Award of Excellence in Dropout Recovery, Intervention and Prevention. During its first three years, the program has progressively improved its success rate, advancing 73, 76 and 90 percent of overage, at-risk 8th and 9th grade students to 10th grade in one year.

During their time in the school-within-a-school Star Academy Program, students complete a rigorous academic program and learn coping skills as well as life skills that eventually enable them to successfully complete 10th through 12th grades in a regular school environment. Star students have failed one or two grade levels in the past and seek to return to their peer group through acceleration.

"Research shows that students who are academically behind are at greater risk of dropping out of school," said Tim Mullis, director of the John T. Simpson Alternative Center for Education. "The Star Academy provides these students the opportunity to regain lost academic years. Through the successes they experience in the Star Academy, they discover that they can achieve academically and that earning a high school diploma is within reach. We believe that this second chance could make a profound difference in their lives."

For more information, visit www.staracademyprogram.com.