District Administration - August 2009 - (Page 38)

Recovery High Schools to stay away from drugs and alcohol. The schools typically serve multiple districts and are funded from both the per-pupil state funds that follow a student and what districts raise themselves. Nationwide, recovery high schools are operated as charter schools, schools within a school, schools that share a building, and standalone schools. In a school within a school, recovering students are in some or all classes together but remain students of the public high school with the same administration. In a shared building several schools operate, but each has its own classes and principal. What they have in common is a commitment to providing a safe haven and support for students learning to deal with addiction. “For students in recovery, returning to their former high school environment is returning to where their using friends are, where their connections are,” says Monique Bourgeois, the executive director of the Association of Recovery Schools (www. recoveryschools.org) and a licensed alcohol and drug counselor at Solace Academy, a recovery high school in Chaska, Minn. “It’s Students at Northshore Recovery High School read during their lunch break. no different from asking an adult coming out of substance abuse treatment to return to his or her favorite bar six hours a day, five days a week.” If You’re Considering Starting a Recovery High School … Andrew Finch, co-Founder oF the AssociAtion oF recovery schools, hAs seen dozens of recovery schools launched, many of which were unable to remain viable. here are some key suggestions for making a recovery school a successful, long-standing resource for your district. • Stay small. “Fight the temptation to do a 150-student school,” Finch says. “If the district thinks it has that kind of need, it’s better off with multiple sites than one big one.” • Don’t worry about the model. Focus on the mission and culture of the school, using whatever model works best for your district. • Staff for success. No matter how small the school is, include an alcohol and drug counselor and a coordinator. “Sometimes the coordinator is a program director or a lead teacher. But you need someone who oversees the day-to-day administration duties and works closely with the students,” Finch says. • Limit enrollment to students in recovery who want to attend. It may be tempting to use a recovery high school as a place for students with ongoing substance abuse issues. But the environment at the heart of recovery high schools’ success is predicated on students who are committed to working on their sobriety and want to be at the school. To ensure that staff and students can have very close relationships, recovery high schools keep class sizes low. The schools have a counselor on staff and typically devote some of the school day to talking through issues, asking students to be honest about their use, their troubles and their thoughts—an almost painful level of transparency. Most require students to be enrolled in a 12-step program, like Alcoholics Anonymous. “We tell our stories and what’s going on day to day. Everyone is open, and that’s really good,” Grant says. “I like that it’s sober people and a sober environment. Everyone is in NA [Narcotics Anonymous] or AA [Alcoholics Anonymous], working with their sponsor and working the steps. I’ve got the support and motivation I think I need to stay sober.” A Model for Success There is no shortage of students like Grant. More than two million youths nationwide aged 12 to 17, or 8.2 percent of that population, meet the criteria for a substance abuse diagnosis, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (www.samhsa.gov). District Administration 38 August 2009 http://www.recoveryschools.org http://www.recoveryschools.org http://www.samhsa.gov

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - August 2009

District Administration - August 2009
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Standards & Assessment
Stimulus Monitor
Admin Profile
District Profile
Tell It to the Mayor
Fighting Fraud in Schools
Recovery High Schools
Keeping the Community in the Know
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
Problem Solution
Tech Disruptions
New Products
Product Focus
Professional Opinion

District Administration - August 2009