Willard Alternative High School in Missoula, Montana offers second chance to struggling students

Most have heard a story about a friend, neighbor or acquaintance who is either having or has had issues in the public high school system. Many of them feel they have no other option but to drop out of high school altogether, but there is an alternative.

By: Christina Richter and Alyssa Smith Sentinel High School Journalism

Willard http://www.mcps.k12.mt.us/portal/Default.aspx?alias=www.mcps.k12.mt.us/portal/willard is an alternative high school for students who have problems concentrating in the usual classroom setting, who need to make up credits or have dropped out for a time and are ready to get their lives back on track. This school has given many students an excellent opportunity to have a second chance at their high school career while preparing them for life after high school.

The facilities throughout the school are relatively well kept, but unfortunately small. The three story building has room for only 152 students, 13 teachers and four dogs.

Currently about 30 students are on a waiting list to get into the school when the space opens up.

“Everybody’s pretty chill with each other. The cool thing is all of the acceptance,” Science teacher Mary Maier said.

In the morning, before classes started, Junior Amber Zavala, a transfer from Sentinel, was happy to tell us about the school while we sat in the lounge. This space held three couches and a recliner, with an elevator stationed behind us and several students moving in and out of the room, some standing to listen in on what the “new kids” were talking about.

“We are like a family,” Zavala said. “Everyone gets along with everyone.”

Zavala was just an average student who was not adjusting well to high school. She had spent time at Sentinel and then at Hellgate and back to Sentinel again.

“I was failing classes and thought that Willard could help,” Zavala said. “And it really has. I have never been on the honor roll until I started going here.”

Zavala now maintains between a 3.0 and 3.5 GPA.

Junior Brandon Fullbrook was kicked out of almost every school in Las Vegas before moving to Missoula and continuing the trouble in the high schools here. Fullbrook said that Willard was the “last chance” for many students, including him, and was joined by a chorus of agreement throughout the classroom. He hopes to graduate early.

Junior Trevor Allen, also a former Spartan, feels that the close ties between people at Willard have brought him out of his shell.

The day began at 8:30 a.m., but what’s missing is the bell. Rather than relying on a bell to alert students and teachers as to the time, classes begin and end due to close watch of the clock. When shuffling to class we also noticed classes and teachers were different from the average classroom seen in our halls. Most classrooms ranged from five to 15 students each and a few had employed the new Smart-Board technology.

Teachers and students are on an informal, first-name basis, which makes many students feel more like adults and closer to their teachers. But don’t think that this informal system breeds disrespect. There is no Student Resource Officer and students are in charge of themselves.

Zavala and Allen spent their day showing us around and letting us sample their classes. Teachers drew many more parallels between their lessons and how those concepts affect the real world, such as algebra’s relationship to computer programming, and the spread of diseases to history and what that means for finding a job.

Willard offers a variety of courses that are required such as math and science and electives such as Exploring Genocide.
The school has a singing group and will be starting an Ultimate Frisbee team.

In order to ensure the school’s academic integrity, Willard has a contract system. There are three types of contracts.

An academic contract is enforced when students are either turning assignments in late or not at all. The teacher will then assign certain assignments that must be completed in a certain time frame or the student will be asked to leave.

The second type of contract is a behavioral contract, issued if a student shows disrespect toward teachers and other students. This type of contract requires students to maintain respectful behavior or risk being expelled.

The last type of contract is the attendance contract for students receiving excessive amounts of tardies or absences. Students must make up the amount of time lost with their teachers before school, at lunch or after school, usually within one week of the offense. These may be terminated at the end of a semester depending on behavior and work ethic.

One striking difference between our schools had to do with the appearance of the school itself. We noticed there were no breakfast wrappers, or lunch remnants left on the floors or stair cases while walking to class.

“If you go into the bathrooms, you’ll notice that there is no writing on the walls. There is no garbage outside. Students take pride in the school,” Allen said.

In addition, the previous principal had set up a corner, known as “Smoker’s Corner,” where students are allowed to smoke without worry of being harassed by police officers or other community members. The students have taken pride in this luxury and by looking around there is no trash or cigarette butts. Also students do not feel as though they need to sneak around.

Allen also points out that even though there are some students who do not take responsibility for themselves, other students take responsibility for them by picking up garbage in the parking lot and keeping the school in generally good condition.

For example, as we walked back to the school from the Smoker’s Corner we noticed a girl getting out of her car to pick up trash from the parking lot that did not belong to her.

While being subject to staring and the once mentioned “spy” comment, the day was successful. The bad rumors that spread from person to person, we are happy to say, are not true and the students and teachers were a joy to be around.

We entered with the feeling of being the “new kids,” but left feeling much better about writing an article about a school we truly enjoyed. At 1:20 p.m. we left the school’s parking lot with a different understanding of these students and their willingness to finish high school.

Thank you again, students and staff, for letting us “spy” on you.