A closer look: Life Skills Center-Middletown state report card
Designation: "Continuous Improvement"
State indicators met: 1 out of 12 (OGT writing)
Attendance rate: 60.3 percent
2009-10 graduation rate: 16.9 percent
Ohio Graduation Test improvement (since 2008-09 school year):
Reading (up 11 percent)
Mathematics (up 9.5 percent)
Writing (up 15 percent)
Science (up 13 percent)
Social Studies (up 16.1 percent)
Butler County charter schools state report card ratings
Life Skills Center (Middletown): “Continuous Improvement” (up two levels from 2010-11)
Summit Academy Secondary School (Middletown): “Effective” (up one level from 2010-11)
Richard Allen Academy III (Hamilton): “Continuous Improvement” (no change from 2010-11)
Middletown Fitness and Preparatory Academy: “Continuous Improvement” (no change from 2010-11)
Summit Academy Community School for Alternative Learners of Middletown: “Academic Emergency” (no change from 2010-11)
The Life Skills Center is a tiny school at 631 S. Breiel Blvd., tucked between a barber shop and a beauty school in a strip mall. It doesn’t have an auditorium to hold assemblies so students and staff packed the hallways Friday to celebrate as principal Chuck Hall unveiled the school’s “Continuous Improvement” banner.
Two of Butler County’s five charter schools improved their ratings on the 2011-12 state report cards: Summit Academy Secondary School (Middletown) went up to “Effective” and Life Skills Center (Middletown) went up two notches from “Academic Emergency” to “Continuous Improvement,” according to the Ohio Department of Education.
Jaime Russell, a teacher at Life Skills Center, saw the school go through six years of being rated “Academic Emergency.” A number of the teaching staff were replaced or found jobs elsewhere, she said.
“I’ve been here 10 years, but I think the majority of our staff has been here less than five,” Russell said. Efforts by the current staff led to improvements in the school’s performance numbers, she said.
“We began meeting once a week to form a School Improvement Plan, and it’s paid off,” Russell said.
On top of individualized attention, students also receive specialized instruction in certain areas.
Teachers started a Study Island to focus on students who needed help to pass certain courses. The staff also offered concentrated OGT classes, where 10 students would receive extra help from a teacher on a particular Ohio Graduation Test subject.
These solutions make Life Skills Center more able to address students’ problems, Hall said.
“Like any other school district, kids have made mistakes, but we’re just better equipped probably to try and address those students’ needs and look at the underneath reason why they’re behaving the way they are,” Hall said.
Life Skills Center student Kaitlin Wing, 17, bounced from school to school because her teachers weren’t equipped to address and recognize her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, she said.
“The teachers and staff here, they’re here to help you in any way they can and they really care about you,” she said. “Everyone accepts you for who you are here. It’s like a big family, where everybody is working to help you succeed at your own pace. I’m not afraid to be myself here.”
The school’s relationship with Middletown High principal Carmela Cotter also is a big reason behind its success, Hall said.
“She refers kids here, and she understands what we do,” Hall said of Cotter. “We haven’t always been recognized in a positive light from other schools, because they feel we’re competing with them. But that’s not the case here.”
Life Skills Center student Mike Proctor spent his freshman year at Middletown High School hanging out with the wrong crowd, he said.
“School wasn’t important to me back then,” Proctor said.
He earned three credit hours in three repeat years as a Middie freshman.
“But that’s when I realized I needed to do something with my life. And I knew there was no way I’d have been able to graduate from Middletown. So I came here, and this place really helped me,” Proctor said.
Proctor said he received valuable one-on-one instruction at Life Skills Center and is scheduled to receive his diploma in January.
“The pace was a part of it, but a lot of it was just me being a knucklehead,” he said. “Anybody can sit around and blame the system and blame the school for your problems, but really, it’s really up to you to go in and get it done.”
During Friday’s celebration, Hall echoed that statement and broke into tears as he spoke to the teens crowding the hallways.
“This is a celebration of your accomplishment,” he said. “Many people didn’t think you could learn. They talked about how you wouldn’t amount to anything, but the the fact that you’re here proves them wrong. You don’t have to be here, but you understand the value of an education and each of you are here to make it happen.”
About the Author