Welcome to the DCYF Alternative Education Program’s Guidance Page

High School education is critical to the foundation of a student’s future. Here at the DCYF Alternative Education Program (DCYF Alt Ed), we aim to provide comprehensive support to students to ensure academic success and social-emotional development. We offer a Comprehensive School Counseling Program (CSC) aligned with the ASCA (American School Counselor Association) standards and the RI School Counseling Framework as identified below:

The DCYF Alt Ed Program is a limited LEA. All instruction is provided by certified teaching staff and is aligned to the common core standards of instruction in order to promote the progress of youth in accordance with proficiency-based requirements of their local LEA. Youth who are enrolled at DCYF Alt Ed have not voluntarily withdrawn and or transferred from their previous school placement/LEA. As such, LEA’s must not unilaterally disenroll said students as a permanent “drop” from enrollment; subjecting youth who were previously enrolled to a brand-new enrollment process.

Credit Audits

As a mandatory educational program that receives students from all over the state, we often see students who have attended multiple placements or schools. When preparing a credit audit, we consider any amount of credit earned at each individual placement. With respect to the institutions weighting systems, whether a single semester was completed, or four, we account for all student earned credit; where grades have been issued as part of identifying credit needs while a youth is enrolled with us. As part of our designation as a Limited LEA, it will be at the discretion of the LEA’s to ultimately determine the weight and classification of all credits in accordance with their specific Proficiency Based Graduation Requirements (PBGR) since we do not issue diplomas.

Diplomas

As a temporary transitional education program and a limited LEA, we do not issue high school diplomas. High school diplomas are the responsibility of the student’s LEA and or specific endorsed program upon completion of their high school requirements. LEA’s for purposes of preparing a youth to meet PBGR’s while they are enrolled with us, are determined by the students last enrollment or through an official Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Determination. Please note we do not compute class ranks.

College/Career Readiness

Confirmed seniors complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), The common app, varied career interest inventories, and college applications.

We are an Approved/Official Test Site

PSAT SAT GED ACCESS for ELL’s/WIDA

Grades/Progress Reports/Academic Failure Letter

For each academic quarter, an Academic warning letter is issued for any student who is in danger of failing a course by report of teacher per the Progress Report. A letter is provided to the youth, and to their parent/guardian.

Personalized Learning Plan:

We identify a Personalized Learning Plan for all students in our program that are with us for at least one month. These plans are completed with each student to support them in setting learning goals based on personal, academic and career interest.