Cousins says she is “not a book person.” During her childhood of dealing with family strife, which took her to towns across rural Maine, rarely staying at a school for longer than a year or two, learning was never a priority. “It was never something I looked forward to — all day, every day,” she said. She dropped out shortly after her 16th birthday.
But last summer, Cousins’ mother-in-law told her about Threshold, a program developed by a Maine charter school aimed specifically at students who’ve dropped out, and she enrolled at age 18.
![Maine Public Radio](http://hechingerreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Screen-Shot-2018-01-03-at-10.46.53-AM-400x0-c-default.png)
This story also appeared in Maine Public Radio
Rothschild serves as part teacher, part tutor for the program, visiting her 10 students’ homes for one-on-one classes each week. She designs individualized assignments that she hopes will engage students who’ve often struggled in traditional school settings.
Threshold is akin to home-schooling, only with certified teachers, overseen by a brick-and-mortar school, who provide in-person lessons. The teachers use technology to keep in touch with students daily. The idea is to create an alternative to the day-to-day structures of school — the school bus and the 7-hour school day — that make learning nearly impossible for specific students, including teen parents, youth with full-time jobs or kids who’ve suffered from bullying or severe anxiety. It’s an ambitious idea to reach students that have fallen through the cracks and provide them with a path forward to a diploma.
To read more of Robbie Feinberg's article, please click here.
Comments (0)