“I personally think the way we think about school is the way that we all know school to be, which is, ever since we were in kindergarten, we were in school, and we do school, and it's 180 days, and it's from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and we have discrete disciplines,” Katy Foster, the principal of Marin’s Community School (an alternative education site) said. “Personally, I would blow up the whole system, and let it fall out in a way where there [are] more exciting, self directed, collaborative [and] community based learning opportunities for everyone.”
Although attending the typical public school available in the district might seem like the obvious choice for many students in Marin County, the resources and opportunities afforded at these schools don't always fit the needs of individual students. Feeling out of place and out of control in such a large school is not an uncommon feeling for many kids, especially those who end up surrounded by teachers they don’t have a connection with.
Although the larger schools within the Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) are actively trying to create an environment where any type of student will feel welcomed and accepted by their school community, creating a school that successfully caters to such a vast range of students is nearly impossible. Alternative learning schools, which are typically smaller, have a greater ability to help students who don’t flourish in large school settings, as they receive more individual attention from their teachers. This article explores various alternative learning opportunities available in Marin, student experiences and the opinions of educators and principals.
Only seconds away from Redwood High School, San Andreas High School fosters an alternative learning environment focused on creating relationships with students and helping them to fulfill their academic and personal potential. Some students think that San Andreas is associated with negative stereotypes, regardless of the fact that very few really know how the school works. After taking a deeper look, the reality of the school is far from the false connotations and perceptions associated with it.
Clara Berry
For Clara Berry, a senior who transferred to San Andreas from Redwood at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, going to San Andreas was not an easy transition; However, it was worth it.
“I knew of San Andreas, I just never really knew what it was. And I feel like it definitely has a bit of a reputation for being a school for kids that were doing bad things or got kicked out of their previous schools, and that's just not the case at all…. I didn't want to come to [San Andreas] because of the perception that I had of it in my head. But most importantly, I didn't want to not be able to do school the traditional way, because it felt like if I was coming to this school, that meant I had failed at regular school," Berry said. “[But] I wouldn't be graduating in a couple of weeks if I hadn't come here. I owe everything to this school.”
Although Berry was hesitant to transfer, San Andreas ended up providing an environment that not only supported them enough to help them graduate this year but also supported them emotionally.
“I would not be in school if I hadn't come here. Sophomore year I stopped going to school in November and then last year I stopped going to school in October. And so when I came here, I had 130 credits left to graduate, which is two years’ worth of school. And I have [now] finished all those credits,” Berry said. “My goal at the beginning of this year was to graduate and, as supportive as [San Andreas] is, they were kind of like ‘Clara, let's create a more realistic goal, you have two years’ worth of credits left.’ But I said that's what I wanted, and I made that very clear that I was going to graduate, and so they worked with me. I obviously worked super hard, but [San Andreas] has made it possible for me to do that. Everything about this school has helped me just so much.”
Berry emphasized the focus that is put on students' mental well-being, and the priority their health takes over their grades and their assignments.
“It's just really a great school for people [who], whether they're struggling with grades and academics or whether they're struggling with mental health or personal problems, [are not able to] complete traditional schooling at big environments and big campuses. It's very different how we do things, how we go about lessons, how we interact with our teachers. We don't have homework here, we don't really have tests, we have projects. But I think the main focus of this school is to [not only] help kids graduate and get their credits, but mainly focus on their personal well-being and make sure that they're okay and that they have the skills to be successful moving forward, rather than just getting kids out of high school and into college,” Berry said.
This care for students' well-being is shown through the connections the staff make with their students, and the way they approach learning.
“I love all my teachers so much. They're some of my favorite people. Teachers at Redwood and other schools, if you have missing assignments you might just get an email being like ‘you're missing these assignments,’ or maybe in some cases a teacher has the time to come up to you and be like, ‘Hey, I noticed you’re missing these assignments.’ But every single day [at San Andreas] if you're missing an assignment, before a teacher even talks about that or approaches that they’re like, ‘Hey, are you okay? How are you? How are things going?’ Because the last thing that you need if you're struggling in school is to just be reminded of how much you're failing,” Berry said.
After having spent the year at San Andreas, the initial perception Berry had in their mind of San Andreas has long been overruled by an extremely grateful admiration - one they say they wish everyone had access to.
“I love San Andreas. I wish that more people had an opportunity to go here. But I know that only certain people are referred to San Andreas for a reason. It's a really great, really supportive school. And I wish that other schools, like Redwood, were able to be more like San Andreas because I feel like it would help people be so much more successful,” Berry said. “The environment that we have here is because of how small the school is [and] how close the community is. I know every single kid at the school. I like all my teachers. And while I do think that sometimes [it’s] difficult [that] your teachers know who you are and know where you are at all times, it's for the best and it's helped me personally be very successful,” Berry said.
Cathy Flores
Cathy Flores is the principal of San Andreas High School and has spent 16 years teaching in the district. Prior to San Andreas, Flores had multiple jobs within the TUHSD, including working at the district office, working as a high school liaison to a nonprofit organization and working as an English teacher at Redwood. Flores eventually decided to make the switch to San Andreas from Redwood.
“I wanted to serve a constituency that was on the margins and was experiencing a system of inequity, and I needed a change in my career. I had been working at the comprehensive sites for 20 years, and I knew that system and I understood how it worked.” Flores said.
One of the main differences between San Andreas and Redwood is size. The small student population is what allows San Andreas to provide students with more individualized attention.
“The small size of the school allows us to really differentiate instruction, how we do discipline [and] how we operate on a day-to-day basis. It's a wonderful school site to be at because you feel like you're really creating change for a student,” Flores said. “We have this wonderful opportunity to lead with love for students, help heal some of their trauma and help them get the academic standing that they need or those academic credits that they need. We also try to help break down any barriers to the system, like any challenges with their education, or their social emotional needs,” Flores said.
Many of the students who are referred to San Andreas are credit deficient, meaning they are on the path to not graduating since they do not have enough class credits. Building relationships with the students is what allows San Andreas to get to the root of why these kids are missing school, and try to help them overcome these obstacles as best they can.
Out of the 71 kids currently attending San Andreas, the majority of them were struggling in the bigger schools in TUHSD due to social and emotional reasons.
“I would say the largest amount [of students] we get tends to be for social emotional reasons. You know, anxiety, depression, drug use that's led to depression or something along those lines. And that's the toughest one to help get through the system, because we have to help the student heal, and we're also responsible for their academic needs. So we try to do that as lovingly and as thoughtfully as possible,” Flores said. “You can't disappear here, you can't hide, we're too small. Classes are approximately 15 to 18 students, [so] your teacher is seeing you every day.”
Along with mental health, Flores also mentioned that students feel “othered” or isolated at the comprehensive sites, which encourages them to come to San Andreas. When asked how she thought Redwood could create a more accepting, equitable environment, Flores reflected on the challenges.
“I think if you're asking about inclusion and belonging, then [Redwood] needs to change how the school operates around culture and othering. And that's a big lift at a school that's predominantly white. We have students that intentionally come here because they feel othered at Redwood, and because they don't feel safe, academically or emotionally, or assumptions are made about them or, you know, fill in the blank. I've heard so many reasons. And it's not just Redwood, it's across our sister sites,” Flores said.
Flores credits a lot of the school's success to the teachers’ willingness to really be there for the students.
“Everything that happens here is because of the collective effort of the staff. Everything is coordinated and done by this exemplary group of individuals who are willing to be a part of the school not just as an educator, but as a human being who is trying to impact the lives of students on campus in a different way,” Flores said.
In addition to having a caring teaching staff, San Andreas has also recently implemented a wellness center and more therapy opportunities for their students.
“We have four people that can provide therapy for our students. Now [the students] are seeing the benefit of talking it out with someone and getting some feedback in a non-judgmental way. We anchor ourselves in trauma-informed practices all the time. And to have a team of therapists to support our students who are experiencing probably the most trauma of all the kids in the district, it's incredibly valuable to us and a necessary piece to creating success for students in our program,” Flores said.
In terms of therapy options, San Andreas recently introduced Wellness Coordinator Jen Kenny-Baum, who worked at Redwood until the 2022-2023 school year. Kenny-Baum splits her time between both Tamiscal and San Andreas, working not only one on one with kids, but also trying to host presentations and community building activities at the schools. She recently made the switch to San Andreas, although she admits it was challenging.
“There are two reasons [I wanted to change]. One is I wanted, for my personal self, to have a smaller community. I wanted to work in a school environment that might have more of a family feel and a small community vibe. And the other [reason] is that I wanted to get to know students better. Within that I also feel like at the alternative schools, from an equity lens, there's a lot of mental health needs that had not been being addressed,” Kenny-Baum said.
Since it is only her first year working with the alternative ed sites Kenny-Baum says it's hard to tell if her presence has made a difference for the students, however, the number of students who are attending meetings with her is increasing - which she sees as a positive sign.
Kana Kojima
For many students, Redwood itself is not what causes them to leave in search of alternative education opportunities. Instead, it’s their own internal struggles. For instance, senior Kana Kojima struggled with mental health; However, she ultimately came back to Redwood for her senior year after going to Headlands Preparatory in Sausalito for her second semester of junior year.
“I think Redwood for me was a school that I felt I was always meant to be at, the school that I was meant to graduate at,” Kojima said. “I kind of saw going to Headlands as a break period from Redwood, just to get myself in check and really situate myself in terms of mental health. I feel like I succeeded in that, so coming back to Redwood [is] what made me happiest in terms of being with my friends and graduating from a place where I spent most of my time during high school.”
Headlands Preparatory School is a small school in Sausalito for grades six to 12. According to their website, “Headlands Preparatory School empowers all students to develop themselves as individuals and as contributors to the community through individualized learning, academic mastery, personal growth and civic engagement.” Kojima valued these aspects of the school, as they allowed her to work one on one with a teacher every day.
“I definitely feel like Redwood could be more accepting towards mental health,” Kojima said. “I do feel like personally my issues lied [in] individual teachers who I felt weren't really taking into account what, for me, anxiety actually is. I didn't like public speaking [and] I didn't like to talk in front of a crowd of people. In terms of teachers, I think [Redwood] could be a little bit more accommodating with things like anxiety and depression, and how that can manifest for each individual student in class.”
For Kojima, the academic transition to Headlands went very smoothly.
“[My schedule] was pretty much the same. I was really lucky. I was able to take all of the same classes that I took at Redwood and just transfer them to Headlands,” Kojima said.
However, not every student will choose to keep the same six-period day. Students also have the option to plan their schedule to better fit their needs.
“[Headlands is] so accommodating. They genuinely will do anything that is necessary for each student. For me, it wasn't about scheduling, it was just the social aspect of school. I didn't really need to change my schedule in any way, just because I already eliminated the social aspect at Redwood [by being at Headlands]. I know a lot of people that just make their schedule in a way that fits best for them,” Kojima said.
Avery Kaplan
For freshman Avery Kaplan, creating her own schedule was a big appeal of Headlands Prep. Kaplan started her freshman year at Redwood but transferred to Headlands Prep for her second semester in December of 2022.
“Everyone has a different schedule. So [it’s] a little more flexible. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I get out at 10:50, because I only have two classes. And then on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I get out at 1:35,” Kaplan said.
Kaplan expressed that the social and academic pressures she felt from attending Redwood pushed her to pursue other learning communities in Marin.
“I was struggling a lot with friends and academics [at Redwood] and I was very behind and confused. I was failing a lot of my tests [because] I never really learned the material. We decided as a family that it would be best for me to explore different schools and see what other alternatives we could do,” Kaplan said. “I couldn't last a day without having to go home early. We knew at first [Redwood] probably wasn't going to be the best fit for me, but it [became] clear when I was really struggling.”
Kaplan also touched on the different culture that is fostered at Headlands, in comparison to the competitive nature of Redwood.
“Redwood is such a competitive environment that it just makes it 10 times more stressful than it needs to be because everyone's comparing [themselves to each other],” Kaplan said. “Nobody [at Headlands Prep] judges you whatsoever. There's this eighth grader and he's in a higher math class than me. But we don't compare our grades or how smart we are at one subject to anyone else. It's kind of just a community and it's very easy to communicate with people and easy to find people to talk to.”
Katy Foster
Katy Foster is the principal of several of Marin’s Alternative Learning schools, including Marin’s Community School, Phoenix Academy, Oracle Independent School and Marin’s Juvenile Court School. She’s been working in this role for eight years now.
Before starting her job as principal of the schools, Foster worked as an assistant principal at Redwood. She then went on to work at the alternative education programs, after initially trying to create her own charter school. The model (which was called the Ipso model) was not approved, however, it ultimately ended up being implemented within Marin’s Community School. The model aimed to close the gap of inequitable outcomes for kids of color and low socioeconomic status.
“There was a report that the racial disparities in [Marin County’s] education outcomes are the biggest in any county in the state. At least, that was back in 2016," Foster said. “So [Marin’s community school] is sort of the Ipso model. But it's applied in this much more homogeneous school than we were looking to serve.”
Many of the students who attend Marin’s Community School are referred through their home district’s school attendance review board, most often because they haven’t been attending school regularly. They also have a handful of kids who have been expelled from their previous schools.
Similar to Headlands Prep, Marin’s Community School focuses on individualized learning and ensuring that all students have schedules that set them up for success. This differs from the larger schools, which typically place more emphasis on getting through the curriculum, as opposed to catering to the speed at which individual students can truly learn the material.
“We have a competency system, so in a smaller class the teacher can assess where the kids are, and then meet the needs of each student. And then they get grades and credits by showing growth and proficiency in the main curricular areas, which are based both on content and skills,” Foster said.
In addition to the main curricular areas, the school also offers opportunities to do independently created projects that are interest based – such as through internships and job shadows off campus.
The school currently has a population of about 70 students – all of whom have various reasons for attending the school.
“Kids come here, who, for many different reasons, can't find success at bigger schools. It could be that they just need a smaller school. It could be that they need a school where they don't have homework because they have to work. It could be that they need our flexibility with time,” Foster said. “Our day is a little bit shorter. And mostly we don't have homework, mostly they do the learning and work in class.”
When comparing Marin’s Community School in the past to how it operates today under the Ipso model, Foster emphasized the importance of connections that are made between teachers and students. Foster also touched on some of the main differences between Redwood and Marin’s Community School.
“The foundation of restorative practices is relationships. I’m pretty sure that's what the teachers at Redwood are working on now. How do you make intentional relationships with kids in order to help them reach the next level, so they feel like they belong in your class?” Foster said. “There's a greater understanding now [at Marin’s Community School] of how to serve the needs of kids who have experienced trauma or very hard life circumstances, in a way that's much more restorative and less punitive. We brought a lot of restorative practices here; Kids are suspended at a much lower rate than they were when we got here.”
Conclusion
At these schools, student needs are placed above everything. As opposed to prioritizing teaching to the test, or getting through the required curriculum, these schools focus on benefiting not only students' academic needs, but their social emotional needs as well. All of these schools can lead their students to college; However, they teach that this isn't always necessarily the goal, but rather that it's important to learn about yourself and learn what works best for you to succeed.
Although Redwood does not have the same ability as smaller schools to personalize instruction to each individual student, it does have the capacity to better understand how mental health problems, trauma and outside life can factor into a student’s ability to succeed in class. Taking these factors into account when interacting with students, and trying to limit the amount of pressure and stressors school can cause on students outside the classroom, should be prioritized at the comprehensive learning sites – regardless of whether or not there is space in the curriculum to take into account students well-being.
When it comes to schooling one size does not fit all, and thus these alternative learning sites are imperative to ensuring all students are getting the education they need and equitable opportunities to succeed.
Other photos courtesy of Cathy Flores, jlcbuild.com, Katy Foster, Kana Kojima and Headlands Prepatory. Ilustration by Calla McBride.