Helping high-schoolers succeed outside the mainstream
Alti gives determined students a place where they can be free to be who they are
After bouncing from one school to the next, the teen found herself on the six- or seven-year plan to get a high school diploma.
Applying to Calgary’s Alternative High School was a step in the right direction. But she was a noshow most days, her actions failing to back claims to want to work hard.
School guidance counsellor and mentor Amber Murray says that student’s journey illustrates how the unique school, affectionately dubbed Alti, shines.
“We were relentless,” says Murray, who phoned the teen dozens of times to try to get her on track.
“There was no judgment, just encouragement.”
A few heartfelt conversations later and the teen chose to hunker down.
“She is on the honour roll and going to graduate in June and talking about post-secondary,” Murray says.
The Calgary Board of Education school is, as its name infers, an alternative for students who, for a variety of reasons, failed to find success in the mainstream system.
Times and challenges facing youth may have changed since the school was founded in 1974 by parents who were looking for another way for youth to earn high school diplomas, but the basic approach and philosophical foundation has not.
Alti is still a place where students are “free to be who you are.” But it’s far from a free ride. Open to all students who meet entrance requirements, getting in isn’t a slam-dunk.
Applicants must meet with principal Don Barbor before submitting a written expression of interest and then hammering out a game plan tailored to meet their goals with teaching staff.
Each student is assigned a staff mentor to help as they navigate their way to achieving their personal best.
“We have to try to understand you to support you and not judge you and make up reasons you’re not going to be successful,” Barbor says.
“Success does come with hard work and commitment. You can’t want something more for someone than they want it for themselves. You can’t work harder on someone else’s success than they are willing to work on it.”
Barbor believes most people want to do well in life, and he says they often do find success when they receive support.
“It’s like saying, ‘All you eat is junk food,’ but you don’t ever make healthy food available,” he says. “Society often blame students for what we perceive as unhealthy choices when healthy choices are not available.”
Alti has about 120 students from grades 10 to 12. Small class sizes, ranging from six to 14 individuals, allow for staff and students to get to know one another better.
The school embraces the four spirits in the Circle of Courage — belonging, mastery, independence and generosity.
No one falls through the cracks, says Murray.
“You can’t slide under the radar here when you have a bad day,” she says.
Barbor loves to see students set up for success, especially after a history of encountering challenges and roadblocks at other schools.
While some might describe the students as at-risk, he says a more accurate and compassionate word is complex.
“At-risk is based on a deficit model — lesser than. You are from a specific part of the city, a specific race,” he says.
“Risk exists for any student and any situation with risk has opportunity. Complex is a respectful term as opposed to an evaluative, judgmental term,” says Barbor. “The most resilient students never talk about their risks as something that devalued them, but something that made them who they are today.”
Most Alti students have complex family backgrounds, which ultimately affected their academic success — teens from marginalized and vulnerable groups grappling with everything from drug and alcohol recovery to gaming addictions and those in the LGBTQ population.
While some with similar backgrounds find constructive ways to cope and make it at mainstream schools, others find themselves in “a cycle of disengagement and limited success,” Barbor says.
That typically changes when they find Alti.
One 17-year-old student was surprised she got into the school and is happy she did.
“I was completely honest about everything and they accepted me,” says the teen, asking to remain anonymous.
Before Alti, she was on a downward spiral that saw her studies suffer and months spent in drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
“A lot was going on in my life. I think drugs and alcohol were inevitable,” she says.
Alti was the perfect place to reinvent herself and now the student is “on her A-game academically” and happy with life.
“It feels good to have teachers say good things about me,” she says. “Before I had conflicts with teachers and principals. I just think (Alti) is a good place. It’s OK to be yourself because everyone else is and everyone is very accepting. It’s cool.”
Last year, 38 high school diplomas were earned and this year, the teen will be one of 31 students reaching that milestone — a day, which for many, marks a journey from disillusionment to accomplishment.
“Kids truly do not believe they can succeed and graduate,” Murray says. “If you ever come to a grad there is student after student saying they never thought this day would come.”