FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. What are some of the reasons that a student would be placed at the Alsace School?
A. Students may be placed at Alsace for the following infractions only: disregard for school policy or authority, display/use of a controlled substance, violent or threatening behavior, possession of a weapon, habitual truancy, the commission of a criminal act, or misconduct meriting suspension or expulsion. Placement at Alsace would be appropriate also for students transitioning from another alternative placement outside of his or her home school.
Q. As a parent of a child who needs a highly structured educational program, how do I register my son or daughter at Alsace?
A. At this time, parents or guardians are unable to directly enroll their student at the Alsace School. The registration process begins with a referral from your student’s home school district. If your student meets the criteria set forth by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the sending school district believes that Alsace would be appropriate for your student, an intake meeting is scheduled.
Q. Does it matter in which school district I live?
A. The Alsace School provides services to students and families from each of the 18 school districts within Berks County. We work with each school district to ensure that every student residing in our county receives a free and appropriate public education.
Q. If my student is enrolled at Alsace, will he or she ever go back to "regular school"?
A. Our staff is committed to working with each student toward meeting mutually identified goals and objectives. One of those goals is to prepare for a return to home school. For a student to receive a favorable recommendation to return to his or her district, the following data is taken into consideration: Students must maintain an overall “C” or 2.0 average on a 4.0 scale, maintain regular attendance-- not below 92%, and progress toward individual behavioral and academic goals.
Q. Will the credits my student earns at Alsace transfer to his/her home school district?
A. All teachers at Alsace are certificated in their content areas. Teachers working at Alsace are subject to the very same requirements set forth by the Pennsylvania Department of Education as those found within your home school district.
During the intake, your student’s schedule is reviewed by our guidance counselor and an administrator from the sending school district. At that time, a schedule is created, and your student is registered for his or her classes. Students attending the Alsace School receive four report cards per year, and all credits are fully transferrable.
Q. What if my student demonstrates other problematic behaviors while attending Alsace? Does Alsace have a Student Assistance Program, or SAP team?
A. We are very pleased to have a Student Assistance Program (SAP) within our building. We recognize that each student’s life experience is unique, and we are prepared to address issues and concerns as they arise. Students that find themselves in difficult situations not otherwise identified prior to their placement at the Alsace School are evaluated by the Reading Hospital’s Center for Mental Health.
Q. Do students at Alsace receive counseling?
A. Each student enrolled at the Alsace School participates in a minimum of three hours of individual and group counseling per week. At the time of the intake, students are strategically placed in groups that reflect the purpose of placement. For example, if a student is placed at Alsace for possession of drugs or alcohol, he or she would be automatically registered for group therapy specific to use/abuse of drugs and alcohol. In addition to the mandated counseling, students may also register for an additional two and one half hours of counseling by selecting “Therapeutic Techniques” as an elective. All students, regardless of the reason for referral, have access to both master’s- and doctoral-level counselors.
Q. My student receives services from many outside agencies. Will this continue when my student is enrolled at Alsace?
A. Placement at Alsace should not impact the services that your student receives outside of school. The Alsace staff welcomes related service providers and collaborates with the Office of Juvenile Probation, Service Access Management, and Justice Works, to name just a few of our community partners.
Q. My student has not been successful in one or more of his core subject areas. This has prevented him from being promoted to his age-appropriate grade. Is there anything that can be done at Alsace to help him catch up?
A. While students may not be placed at Alsace specifically to recover credits or to improve a grade for a course that he or she has already taken, our guidance department, in conjunction with your student’s home school administrator, may devise a schedule to include “credit recovery.” Credit recovery is completed online via Apex Learning and monitored by our professional teaching staff. For example, it is possible for a student in tenth grade who has not successfully completed English 9 to be registered for both English 9 and English 10. This opportunity is available to most students and must be approved by the sending school district.
Q. Does Alsace require its students to complete community service?
A. Consistent with the expectation set forth by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, each student enrolled at Alsace must complete at least 10 hours of community service each school year. Students attending Alsace are provided with ample opportunities in and around the community to fulfill this requirement. It should also be noted that the community service completed at Alsace may be applied toward requirements imposed by the Berks County Juvenile Court.
Q. I heard that the police are on site every day. What exactly is a School Resource Officer?
A. According to the Safe Streets Act of 1968, a School Resource Officer (SRO) is defined as a “career law enforcement officer deployed in community oriented policing and assigned by the employing police department to work in collaboration with school and community based organizations.” The School Resource Officer, or SRO, at the Alsace School is a Pennsylvania State Trooper. In a unique partnership with the Pennsylvania State Police, we have secured at least one trooper to be on site for the entire school day. Each SRO serving at the Alsace School has completed a comprehensive training program specific to their duties while at Alsace. The SRO works with students and staff to maintain an environment that promotes teaching and learning. This component also cultivates positive interactions with students and law enforcement, and lends itself to an immediate response to significant issues while ensuring the safety and security of all students and staff.
Q. What does a classroom at Alsace look like?
A. Each classroom at the Alsace School is equipped with a SmartBoard and has access to both laptop and desktop computers, complete with wireless Internet throughout.
Q. What will my student’s schedule look like?
A. The Alsace School operates from 8:15 a.m. through 2:15 p.m. Students follow individual schedules and are afforded the opportunity to rotate between classrooms. The act of moving from room to room prepares students to return to their home schools, provides for a change in environment and an opportunity for positive socialization. Alsace follows a six-day rotating schedule. Each content area course meets five out of the six days. Students will participate in Physical Education twice per rotation and Health and Career Exploration once.
A sample student schedule appears below.
- 8:15-8:50 - Homeroom
- 8:53-9:23 - College Prep Math or Academic Math
- 9:26-9:56 - College Prep Science or Academic Science
- 9:59-10:29 - College Prep English or Academic Reading
- 10:32-11:02 - Elective or Resource Room
- 11:05-11:35 - College Prep Literature or Academic English
- 11:38-12:08 - Lunch
- 12:08-12:38 - Life Skills
- 12:38-1:08 - Group Counseling
- 1:11-1:41 - College Prep Social Studies or Academic Social Studies
- 1:44-2:14 - Math Skills or Employability Skills
Click here for an Alternative Education 2010/2011 school calendar.