Creating Roads Back to School

 

by KYW's Mike DeNardo

In this report we visit a new center that helps Philadelphia dropouts return to school.

Terry Deas of Kensington is trying to get her son Timothy to go to his classes at Gratz High. But more often than not, he disappears into the streets:

"He just don't go. I send him out of the house every day to go. He just don't go."

So she is visiting the Re-Engagement Center, a new office at School District headquarters.  It's a place for dropouts aged 16 to 21 to begin the process of returning for their diplomas.

"It's very frustrating. I do want to see him get his education and go on to college, but... That's why I'm here. To see how they can help here at the Re-Engagement Center."

The center, run in partnership with the city, links young people with social services that can help determine why they're not going to school, and then follows up to help them clear any personal obstacles -- be they juvenile justice issues, or perhaps their own child care issues.

Courtney Collins-Shapiro (right), who heads the district's Multiple Pathways to Graduation office, calls the center a Nordstrom's of school service:

"Because we're in sort of a cash-strapped school district, a lot of times the first things to go are sort of the ancillary services to kids. But if I'm a young person who has a list of 15 different things outside of school that are going on in my world, that's the first thing I need."

The Re-Engagement Center has been open since May, helping hundreds of students find slots in accelerated high schools, adult diploma or GED programs -- and providing alternative programs when those slots are full.

(Photos by KYW's Mike DeNardo)