Off-campus alternative program floated in Conway

CONWAY — In an effort to “realize the potential of each and every student,” Kennett High School administrators are working to create a new alternate academy that could be in place by the beginning of the second semester in November.

School board members hope it will stem some of the discipline issues that have arisen at the high school over the past few years.

From 2007-21, Kennett offered an alternative program called Eagle Academy that met in the evenings to allow students to work during the day.

In 2022, the school started Mount Washington Valley Academy, which met on campus during the school day.

It is not listed in the program of studies for this fall.

The latest idea is to house an alternative program off-campus.

Kevin Carpenter, principal of Kennett High, shared his vision with the Conway School Board at two meetings on July 24 and Aug. 14.

He said he is working with commercial Realtor Greydon Turner of Pinkham Real Estate to pin down a site for the new program.

The leading property is the former White Mountains Community College building located in the TD Bank and Priscilla’s Restaurant block in North Conway. It is 2 miles from the high school and has easy access to the North-South Road off Grove Street.

“We’ve walked this specific site twice,” Carpenter said Aug. 14. “It’s the lease that’s being turned over by White Mountains Community College, so it was set up as a classroom space. Again, one of the key tenets of this program has to do with the fact that these kids will benefit from a site that is not physically on the ground of Kennett High School.”

Leasing it for a year would cost about $48,000, according to Carpenter.

Carpenter would like members of the school’s facilities committee to tour the space and meet with Turner, a former Conway Municipal Budget Committee member, who could answer questions about the property.

“Just for the record, there has been no formal agreement,” Superintendent Kevin Richard said. “These are just conversations at this point.”

The board generally liked Carpenter’s proposal, but Ryan Wallace raised concerns about the site being off-campus, which would limit access to the school nurse, guidance counselors and MWV Career and Technical Center programs.

“I’m in support of the program, but I’m not in support of the fact that it’s off campus and not in-house,” board member Randy Davison said. “Also, as a board member, I’m not in favor of leasing properties.”

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Carpenter touted “having these kids be in an environment where they’re getting their needs met but also not detracting from the needs of other students and their peers, and the overall school environment. ... I am a firm believer that this program is exactly what these students are going to need and benefit from.”

“At-risk students in all grades will be considered for the program,” Carpenter told the school board July 24. “There is no one profile of a student that, ‘Oh, that student needs to be in this alternative program.’ The students are going to look different depending on the needs of the kids.”

He added: “We have students that we know have some peer-to-peer barriers. And that setting of 700-plus students, 800-plus people in a building, is overwhelming. It is anxious for them, and they simply can’t exist in that setting.”

The new program is designed for students who are not successful in the current high school setting, are credit deficient, face social-emotional challenges, are disengaged and need a flexible schedule, he said.

“We know we have students that have some social-emotional challenges that they’re facing,” Carpenter said. “And being in that larger school setting may not be the right fit. We know we have students who for many different reasons are coming to us and becoming credit inefficient. This can be because of disengagement, it can be because there’s anxiety and truancy issues related to anxiety, that’s a big thing that we’re facing, it could just be that they’re generally overwhelmed at Kennett High School.”

He added: “Another thing is we have students that we know will benefit from a more flexible type of schedule. The rigid structure of a school day for some kids is a challenge, whether you’re talking about classes that are 80 minutes, and semester-long, or 80 minutes and year-long or shorter classes. We know that the fit is not always right for some of our students. And then we know we have students and families who may have this disconnectedness or disengagement from the school. And the focus on this program is really going to be about really strong connections to these kids and these families.”

Board Chair Mike DiGregorio liked the concept of the alternative school.

“We know we’ve had some discipline issues at the high school and that traditional school isn’t for everyone,” he told The Conway Sun on Aug. 15. “Hopefully, this will curb some issues.”

The program, if approved by the board, would open with approximately 15 students in grades 9-12 and eventually grow to 30-40 students. The program would be overseen by a lead teacher and a second instructor with the curriculum being primarily STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — focused.

“We’d be looking for kind of a STEM and humanities approach to it,” said Carpenter. “The kids would be getting their science and math but also their English, writing and social studies in the program.

Funding for the first year of the program, including the possible lease of a building, would be covered through the use of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief money the district secured during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The KHS Alternative Education Program provides pathways to graduation that are personalized to fit the unique goals and interests of each student,” Carpenter told the board July 24. “Inquiry-driven content exploration and participation in community-supported, project-based learning provide students with opportunities to practice and hone skills across all disciplines.”

Carpenter said this approach, “differs for each student based on individual interest,” and the KHS Alternative Education Program “seeks to empower every one of our students with the knowledge and skills that they need to pursue their dreams and realize their unique potential.”

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