An educational facility that allows 9th-12th grade students to work toward a high school diploma during nontraditional school hours celebrated its relocation to a larger building with a ribbon cutting and open house held Dec. 12.
The Gilmer location of Mountain Education Charter High School (MECHS), now open inside the Larry Walker Education Center, previously operated out of mobile classroom units near Ellijay Elementary School.
“We are very excited about being at this new site. We have plenty of room for the kids and we’re all under one building. In the previous (location), we were in three separate buildings,” Mike Putman, one of the school’s site administrators, told attendees prior to the ribbon cutting hosted by the Gilmer Chamber.
In Gilmer since 1993, the local school is one of 17 Mountain Education sites in 16 north Georgia counties.
“Our students have made this transition easy and they are very pleased with our new facility. It means a lot to them,” Putman said.
April Smith, a Gilmer MECHS mentor and the school’s public information coordinator, agreed that it’s nice to have all operations under one roof. The big thing Smith said she’s heard from students since the relocation last October is “they love it because it’s more like a real school.”
“We were organized where we were before, but we were in different buildings (linked) by a walkway. We now have eight classrooms and a separate testing room, as well as a counselor and social worker’s office. We also have an ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) classroom,” she added.
‘A noncompetitive model’
As he welcomed attendees to the open house, MECHS Superintendent Dr. Wayne Lovell said the school operates as a “noncompetitive model” that exists to put students back on the path to a high school diploma.
“We’re looking for a kid who, for whatever reason, the traditional high school path has not worked out,” Lovell said.
“What’s so important about this is the partnership that we have with Gilmer County. Over the years, we’ve reached so many kids in north Georgia, especially within this community. It’s made possible by being able to work with the local school system.”
There is no tuition charge for full-time students attending the state-funded night school program. MECHS has the same state accreditation as a public high school like Gilmer High, but the ways students complete their class hours and testing requirements are different, Smith noted.
“We start with 9th grade students, who are usually age 14 or 15. They can stay (enrolled) till 21, like in regular high school. They take the same courses, but they’re on computer modules. Each course has different modules and there’s usually two to three teachers in each classroom who go around helping students. They take a test after each module and, if the test is not where the teacher thinks it should be or they aren’t passing, the teacher can go back and do a review with the student,” Smith explained.
“Some classes have a midterm and a final. In others, the final is the end-of-course state test that every student in high school takes. Like any other high school student, they have to take it and make a certain proficiency,” she continued. “We want them to be proficient and we’ve found the more time they spend in the class reviewing and going over the material, the better they usually do on the tests. They just feel more confident.”
The evening and night class schedule runs Monday-Thursday from 4-9 p.m. Some students attend for a couple of hours on certain days, others come each day for the entire five hours, Putman explained.
“We have kids signing in and out all night. If they’re under 16, they’re required to be there full time every night, just like in day school where the Compulsory Attendance Law of Georgia requires them to be. After they turn 16, they can work and we do have a lot of kids who work eight hours a day before coming to school at night. A lot of kids work to provide for their families nowadays, which forces them to work during the day,” he added.
“We have some who come at 4 p.m. and work till their dinner break, then eat and leave because they have to work the next day. Others may not get off work till 6 p.m. and come for the later hours. We provide flexibility and let them adapt it to whatever’s going on in their lives.”
Students who dual enroll can simultaneously earn MECHS and college credits, Smith said.
“We have kids at Dalton State, North Georgia and Chattahoochee Tech,” she added.
“If they take, for example, an economics class at Dalton State, that also counts as a class at MECHS. Whatever the grade is they get in that college class, they get at night school and they also get that college credit. It’s good for parents because it saves money and, for some kids who might not (plan on) going to college, it helps get them there. Maybe they will figure out that’s something they want to do.”
All MECHS students are assigned a mentor to help keep them on the track to graduation, Smith said.
“Mentors are there for support. We look at their grades and their progress. We (like to show them) if you put in 20 hours a week, this is how long it will take to graduate,” she noted.
“If they only come for 10-12 hours a week, it could take four years to graduate depending on where they are (in their progress). If I’m a student who’s serious about finishing up early and going on to college or work, if I get in 20 hours a week I can (finish) in two-and-a-half years instead of four. That’s a lot of motivation for our kids.”
Last year, 22 out of the 340 graduates from all 16 MECHS sites were from the Gilmer location. Smith said three students have already graduated from the local school during the 2019-20 academic year.
“It’s self-paced and there’s not just one set time at the end of each semester where they can get their credit. Whatever day they finish their requirements, that’s when they graduate. We do like for them to come back for the graduation ceremony we have each year,” Putman said.
The primary goal is to graduate as many kids from Gilmer County as possible, he added.
“The most rewarding thing about this job is seeing those kids who, for whatever reason, have not thrived in school come here and thrive and see some success. It’s kind of a domino effect once they get a little confidence,” Putman said at the open house.
“Every kid is not going to fit the day school environment. Every kid is not going to fit the MECHS environment. Whether it be day school or Mountain Education, we just want to see them graduate (so they can) be productive members of society and make a better life for themselves and their families down the road.”
Continuing to grow
The new location will allow Gilmer MECHS to continue growing its student population.
Mountain Education is located in the front half of the educational center named for the late former principal of Gilmer Middle School, which operated in the same building until earlier this year.
The school not only offers standard English/literature and math classes, but also career pathway courses like agriculture, business education and Spanish.
“A new one is forensic science, which is really popular,” Smith noted.
The building has been divided to house other offices including Gilmer Family Connection and the Mountain Innovations alternative school. Although it’s a common misconception that MECHS is an alternative school, it and Mountain Innovations are entirely different programs, Putman noted.
“The Mountain Innovations program is part of Gilmer County Schools. If a kid has a behavior issue, they may be assigned to alternative school. We are for kids who’ve had life events happen and it’s just a better option that gives them a chance to finish school,” he added.
Plans are in the works for part of the Walker center to be revamped so it can accommodate Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE) courses for GHS students.
Those include home economics and culinary arts classes, Smith said.
“The kitchen in the back (of the building) will be a great addition for kids who want to go into the culinary field. In the next year, some really cool things will be coming,” she added.