Challenges to Leading an Alternative School

One of the greatest challenges of leading an alternative school is managing all of the "needs." We have students who come from extreme backgrounds such as abuse, mental health needs, social/emotional needs, and academic needs (on both extremes, the need to be challenged and the need for assistance).

These needs manifest themselves in a variety of behaviors. For example, I have students who are anxious and when they get anxious, they can explode or shut down. They may get anxious about academics or about being around too many people; this could lead to becoming physically and/or verbally aggressive, which can trigger other student's triggers. Keeping the peace on a daily basis is tough. Teachers walk the line of keeping the students on-task, engaged, challenged, and yet not anxious or shutdown. It is a tightrope many days.

Some keys to dealing with so many behaviors in such as small environment are:

1. Relationships. We try to keep each student in a solid relationship with an adult in the school. Our teachers and secretary play a vital role in helping students remain calm and/or calm down once they reach the breaking point. Students need to feel loved and respected. Respect goes far and a caring heart goes even further. Students will respond to how they are treated.

2. Emotional intelligence and recognizing triggers before they reach the irrational stage. We have to keep abreast of the pulse of each individual student and how their mood will play during the day. Many times students will come to school on edge due to something that happened before school; this sets the tone for the whole day. We have to recognize the mood and help them cope and focus on the real need, which is their education.

3. Setting expectations and being consistent. Students need to understand that there are consequences and rewards to specific behaviors. Students needs to be reminded of the expectations. They respect boundaries and structure, because often times, school is the only place they have it.

4. Voice and choices. Students need to know that they will be listened to. If they can express themselves and feel like they are listened too, even if you tell them "no," they can respect that. Students want to have a voice and want to have some control over their lives and choices.

5. Being flexible. Knowing when to allow a student to work and/or take a break; knowing when a student needs to be pushed and when they need to be free to sit out for a minute We don't always get this right, but having an attitude of flexibility is a key to helping students with a variety of needs. Sometimes I have to see that what a student needs is an ear and not  the strong hand of discipline.

These are some keys to what I believe help students in alternative school. Let me know if you can think of others.