The Knox school officials are reporting success with the new alternative high school program. Director of Curriculum and Instruction Peggy Shidaker told the school board last week that 29 students are enrolled in the Redskin Academy. Sixteen of them attend full-time.
The Redskin Academy seeks to provide an alternative learning environment for students who might have difficulty in a traditional high school setting. Of the current students, Shidaker says two are new mothers, while another should have graduated in 2017 but hadn’t attended school in the past year. Another one was an honors student who struggled with anxiety issues. The Redskin Academy gives her the ability to work on her own, according to Shidaker, while also working to overcome her anxiety by eating lunch with the other students and reading to preschoolers.
Four Redskin Academy students also attend classes at Knox High School, and some take vocational classes. Two of the students came to the Redskin Academy from The Crossing alternative school, while 14 said they were home-schooled last year.
Shidaker said the students like the program because it’s small and like a family, adding that they feel well-treated by the other students.
