KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas. Share your story idea with Olivia.
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Olathe's new alternative learning program for students with social, emotional and behavioral needs is moving closer to its planned August opening.
The school will be called Compass and will serve kindergarten through eighth-grade general education students. It’s designed to be a 45- to 60-day intervention, focusing on addressing those specific needs while students continue their regular coursework.
Once the skill gap is addressed, students will transition back to their home schools.
A concern raised by viewers after my first story about the program was how students would learn if they didn’t have positive peer role models at Compass, as they do at their home schools.
I took that question to Liz Harrison, Olathe Public Schools' assistant superintendent for elementary education.
"Anything we're providing at Compass is something that all of our general education program classrooms would be able to do, so that when we find that ... exact right blend of what works for a student, and they've got the instruction that they need, then that's something that's reproducible," Harrison said.
The students at Compass will be general education students, so staff will be similar to what you'd see at any other elementary or middle school, helping ensure students can be successful when they return to their home schools.
Parent involvement will be a key component of the program's success.
"It's always a goal to work in partnership with parents. Staff there will really work to engage the parents to get to know them very quickly," Harrison said. "To find out, you know, are there things that you know that work with your student, and then as they find things that work, making sure that they're sharing that."
The district is now focused on completing staffing for the school and preparing for the start of the next school year.
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