Fairlead Academy

The Saint Mary’s County High Schools have a huge problem in that about one-fourth of the ninth graders don’t go on to tenth grade. They usually have to go to summer school, repeat a semester or repeat a year. Why is this so important?
If a student fails one grade he or she has a 40% chance of dropping out and if he fails two grades a 90% chance of dropping out. Dropouts earn a significant amount less than high school graduates.
In an effort to address the situation, Fairlead Academy will open in the fall of this year for 60 of the approximately 400 students with the problem. What is this effort and what did it replace?
First, it replaced White Oak Secondary Center which was for students with emotional, social and academic problems. Mary Washington noted in her many visits to White Oak that the students liked the classes of ten. It is important to recognize that due to the great efforts at White Oak, there were some success stories. However, it had a significant dropout rate and its absentee rate was also a concern. I would like to know what the absentee rate was for these students before White Oak. Also, what will happen when these students are returned to their home schools? Their tendency to disrupt will not help their home schools unless it is addressed. Supposedly there will be some overlap between White Oak and Fairlead which would mean that some White Oak students would end up at Fairlead. Since the teachers at White Oak will have to reapply for their positions, questions remain about what will happen to those who apply for Fairlead and are not selected.
Fairlead will have small classes as did White Oak. The students will have ninety minute classes which might be a concern regarding focusing. Lecturing to these students will not work, however the plan is to have hands on activities, good extension activities, technology and teaming between the teachers. All of these efforts could help focusing if they are indeed done as planned.
At the end of next year we need hard data on this new effort including absentee rate, dropout rate, and promotion rate. We also need to track these students through high school and bolster them where needed. Follow up has been promised.
In the future, the public needs to know why one program is leaving and another replacing it. We advertise that we have hard data, and it needs to be shared with the public. As always, we must keep all of the children first.