Alsace Program

The Alsace Program provides educational opportunities for students who are unsuccessful in the traditional school environment. Our staff collaborate with community agencies to effectively serve the needs of the targeted populations. We strive to develop positive social skills and develop students’ self-esteem, as well as improve basic academic skills.

At Alsace, there is a strong behavioral modification component which complements the academic programming. The curriculum consists of language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science. There is a direct instruction, corrective reading course offered to students who require remediation in either decoding or comprehension. All students take a full-credit course in life skills, which is a PDE requirement of alternative education programs. Courses in health, and physical education are also offered. Students at Alsace also participate in a career exploration elective which introduces them to a series of hands-on trades. The Keys2Work program is offered to students as a part of career exploration. This Internet-based program allows students to identify potential careers to research based on their interests and skills.

Behavioral Progress

Behavioral progress is monitored on a daily basis via the point and level system. This system allows the tracking of each student's behavioral progress in the program, as well as provides parents/guardians with daily information as to the progress of their child. Each student starts the day with 100 points. If a student meets all behavioral expectations for the day, the points are retained. If behavioral infractions occur (such as swearing, not following dress code, sleeping, etc.), points are lost to reflect the infraction. The level system takes a minimum of 60 successful school days to complete. Completion of the level system is one of the requirements for students to get a recommendation to return to their home school district.

A School-wide Effective Behavior System (SWEBS) is in place at Alsace. This program was developed with the assistance of the BCIU’s Training and Consultation group and was started in the 2006-07 school year. The purpose of SWEBS is to provide a uniform set of positive school-wide rules that will be enforced consistently by all staff members. The SWEBS program mandates a positive overall approach to behavior management with the intermittent and spontaneous reinforcement of appropriate school behaviors. Students are rewarded for their positive behavior with “BCIU Bucks,” which are redeemable at the school store for various activities and tangible items.

Classrooms

The classrooms at Alsace consist of four alternative education (AE) classrooms and three emotional support (ES) classrooms. Each classroom is self-contained and staffed by one teacher and one specialist. Students rotate classrooms during the direct instruction reading period so that they can receive instruction in a homogeneous setting.

Alternative Education (AE) Classrooms

These classes are segregated by gender. There are three all-boys classrooms, generally one for grades 6-9, one for grades 9-11, and one for grades 11-12. There is one all-girls classroom, which can have girls ranging from 6th or 7th grade all the way up to 12th grade. These classrooms might see as many as 18-20 students at a time, depending on the time of year. Students in the AE classrooms are generally not identified as special education students. These are students who have had difficulty maintaining appropriate behavior in their home school districts and require a smaller, more structured setting in order to be successful.

Emotional Support (ES) Classrooms

These classrooms are co-ed and contain up to 12 students. Classes are grouped by age. These students have all been identified as special education students, many with a disability category of “emotional disturbance.” These students require a highly structured, small-group setting in order to be successful.

contact: Michael Furman
610-987-8656 ~ micfur@berksiu.org