Anaheim : ‘Opportunity’ School for Dropouts Planned

To lower the dropout rate among Anaheim junior high school students, officials plan to open a new “opportunity” school in September.

Opportunity School Polaris, with an emphasis on self-esteem and individualized instruction, is a pilot program for the county, said Lorraine Kobett, student services director for the Anaheim Union High School District.

“Our primary goal is to return those kids to a regular high school program so that they can earn their diploma,” Kobett said. “Sometimes, they fall so far behind they can’t catch up. Some students get physically ill from the thought of going to school. They are school-phobics.”

As many as three of every 130 students may be school-phobics, Kobett said. Other reasons students experience academic failure include immaturity, family problems and chronic absences, she said.

Beginning on Sept. 9, 10 students will begin classes set up in a portable classroom outside the district’s office at 501 Crescent Way. Kobett said she expects the number will grow to include more of the district’s 13- to 15-year-old dropouts.

Last year, the district’s Student Attendance Review Board heard at least 87 cases of students who dropped out, she said. Statewide, about 30% of the student population does not complete high school, Kobett said.

The new opportunity program is for students who have gone through other intervention programs “but are still out of school,” Kobett said. The teen-agers will spend the morning in classes and the afternoon in vocational programs, such as shop and child care, she said. Two teachers, one aide and a counselor will comprise the school’s staff.

“It’s a brand new school. We’re excited,” Kobett said.

The semester-long program can extend up to two years, but “we’re hoping to keep a young person no longer than one year,” Kobett said.