The 19-year-old sat at a computer around 2 p.m. and started answering the multiple-choice questions on the screen.

She needed to score at least 70 percent to pass.

Twenty minutes later, Phoenix Academy’s principal, Tom Haley, announced over the loudspeaker: “Arpasia Bridgman has graduated.”

When Arpasia gave birth to her son six months ago, she dropped out of McCaskey High School. Juggling work, studies and infant care seemed insurmountable, she said.

But her guidance counselor urged her to try Phoenix Academy’s high school — a three-hour-a-day, go-at-your-own-pace program.

In August, Arpasia began taking individualized tutorials on the computer at Phoenix in English, math, science and social studies. After each unit and when she felt prepared, she took the tests.

Arpasia is the 14th student to graduate from one of Phoenix Academy’s high-school programs. The year-old school enrolls more than 300 high-school students, Haley said.

Standing in the main office of the school on Rockland Street, Arpasia slipped a red gown over her clothes and donned a red mortarboard.

“Oh man, I am so happy,” she said, unable to contain her smile. “My mom’s not going to believe me.”

The graduates, dressed in cap and gown, have their pictures taken in front of a Phoenix Academy emblem etched on the wall. The framed pictures decorate Haley’s office.

In February, fall graduates have the option to attend McCaskey’s graduation ceremony.

“There is so much that goes on in the background,” Arpasia’s teacher, Marlowe Leibensperger, said. “The bureaucrats have no clue what these kids go through.”

Arpasia works 33 hours a week at Office Max, in addition to caring for her baby. Full-time school is not an option.

“There’s other alternatives than dropping out,” she said. “I want to offer my son more.”

She hopes to enroll at Harrisburg Area Community College and become a surgical technician.

Success stories like Arpasia’s are not unique at Phoenix, officials said.

“Frankly, if we looked at those (graduates’) stories, we’d probably be in tears,” Rita Bishop, School District of Lancaster superintendent, said.

The year-old Phoenix Academy offers three high-school programs.

• Liberty Place is a completely computer-based program in which students can work at their own pace for three hours a day. It is designed for students 17 or older who have only a few credits left to graduate.
  
  One teacher oversees the computer lab where the students work.



• Renaissance is similar to Liberty Place, but students don’t use computers for their lessons. There are four teachers for each core subject, and students can be any age.



• Personalized Success is a more teacher-driven, four-year program like regular high school, but with smaller classes and more personal attention from teachers.

All classes meet at the Rockland Street school, a former Boys & Girls Club building.

While each program is slightly different, the goal is the same: to help students earn their high school diplomas without the demanding schedule of traditional schooling.

In the Liberty Place and Renaissance programs, the students don’t have homework. There also are no specific deadlines for completing assignments.

But the subjects covered are not watered down.

“This is tough academics. It has academic integrity,” Bishop said. “We’re not running a diploma mill. We’re running a place (where) they can do it at their own pace.”

Every desk, Haley said, is its own classroom.

On Monday, Melody Rivera, 17, was starting to read the prologue of “The Canterbury Tales” for her British literature “class.”

She needs to complete the course and two math classes to graduate.

Melody hopes to finish by Christmas so she can start college at York Technical Institute “as soon as possible.”

When she’s ready to take her literature unit and chapter tests, she needs to score at least 70 percent. If she doesn’t, she’ll have to redo the work and score 75 percent on the retest.

“For most of our high-school programs, (students) don’t fail,” Haley said. Students who don’t pass a test or unit “just aren’t at the next step.”

Attending Phoenix Academy is not mandatory. Students are told about the program and can decide whether to make the switch from McCaskey. Those who already have dropped out also can enroll.

The Academy has about 69 high school students on a waiting list, Haley said. Among them are a couple, both 17 years old, with an 8-month-old baby.

“They’re trying to get their education, but because of child-care issues, they can’t come to traditional schools,” Jacques Blackman, a counselor who serves as liaison between McCaskey and Phoenix, said.

Blackman said one student works at McDonald’s, the other at Target. They need to stagger their classes at Phoenix so someone can always be home with the baby.

“They are 17, but they are making decisions I didn’t make until I was 28,” Blackman said.

The success of Phoenix can be attributed, in addition to flexible schedules, to the positive reinforcement students receive from faculty and each other.

“These kids need instant feedback and gratification if they made it,” Bishop said. “They need to be bolstered up if they don’t make it.”

Jorge Rosado, 17, who struggled at McCaskey as a junior last year, was resigned to never finishing school.

“I was just lazy ... . I got pulled into the social thing rather than the academic thing,” Jorge said. “But I want to do something with myself. I’ve been slacking too much.”

After three months at Phoenix Academy, Jorge expects to graduate in April.


Colby Itkowitz's e-mail address is citkowitz@lnpnews.com. blog comments powered by Disqus