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Vinton School Gives Students One More Chance to Straighten Up

Posted on: Saturday, 10 December 2005, 06:00 CST

By Amy Coutee

The metal detector beeps, echoing down the empty hallway of the World War I-era brick elementary school.

In its past life, the hallways and classrooms of R.E. Cook were filled with young students. Photos of them, neatly dressed, sitting primly at wooden desks, hang in the front office.

Today the school is ghostly quiet, home to about 20 students from Roanoke and Bedford counties expelled from their home schools or sent by a superintendent. Repeated behavioral problems, drugs, assault and battery or weapons often pave the way to Cook, as do problems at home, poor grades and negative labels that have chipped away at their self-esteem.

For these students, Cook is the last stop in the school system.

"Usually we are the last hope. If a student gets kicked out of here then they are gone and they have to find their own education," said Gail Hagerty, R.E. Cook principal. "Alternative school is a privilege."

The uniformed students face random drug testing and potential metal detector wands and shoe checks along with the occasional drug- sniffing police dog.

Parents face mandatory involvement -- without their signature on the contracts, children cannot enroll.

Roanoke County Schools make the Tuesday night parenting classes mandatory, and Bedford County Schools encourage all parents to attend. Some teachers have daily contact with parents.

Hagerty said the classes show parents that they are not alone and help them realize that their children are not bad people.

Waiting inside Cook are one principal, one teacher's aide, three teachers, a handful of tutors, a part-time nurse, a secretary, a part-time janitor, a student assistance program coordinator and a guidance counselor.

Police, judges and social workers filter in and out frequently.

Standing in a doorway a few steps from the principal's office, Gale Moore watches his ninth- and 12th-grade students out of the corner of his eye and talks about the difference between a school where he used to teach -- William Fleming High School, 1,300 students -- and Cook, 20 students.

"It's totally different; it doesn't compare. Teaching at Fleming was tougher than being here," Moore said. Everyone who sees the school is surprised, he said, as students quietly work on their assignments.

Most students spend a portion of their day working one-on-one with tutors. This month, most students are male, but Hagerty said typically half or a third of the student body is female.

Directly across the hall from Moore, Tracy Hopkins teaches math and history to 10th- and 11th-graders. When class is over in a few hours, she and Moore will pack up their carts and roll to the next classroom to teach the same subjects to different grade levels.

"Most of your fights and disagreements happen in the hallways," Moore said.

At lunch, Moore and all the other staff members sit next to the students in the plastic-knife-free cafeteria for lunch. Afterward, teachers escort students to the restroom, standing guard in the doorway.

Those enrolled in Cook are usually required to stay for a full year. After that, once their grades and behaviors have improved, they become eligible to return to their home school.

Once they return to the home school, Cook's staff checks on them to make sure the transition is smooth.

Unlike other science and physical-education teachers, Moore doesn't get to do science experiments -- scalpels are not allowed -- and he doesn't get to show students how to use free weights; they are potential weapons.

But there are field trips, small assemblies, manners lessons at restaurants, contests and visits from judges and police. Each year, students in grades 6 through 12 visit the Botetourt Correctional facility, where they meet inmates.

Moore estimated that probably half of the students at Cook this month are there because of behavioral problems, but after about four weeks at Cook, most bad behaviors go into hibernation.

"Just because they had a problem at another school does not mean that they have a problem here," Hopkins said as she stepped out of her classroom and into the hallway with Moore.

Upon arrival, students and their parents must sign up to three separate school contracts, outlining the rules -- addressing everything from distracting hairstyles to hand gestures -- and disciplinary actions that accompany each infraction.

Students learn upfront that there are consequences for every broken rule, Moore said. For example, one unexcused absence equals two, two-hour detentions.

"If we didn't do that we'd lose control, especially in the classroom," he said.

But the goal is to teach, not punish, Hagerty said.

Cook has the same motivation as every other school. "We are SOL- driven," Hagerty said.

Last year, the school had a 60 percent pass rate. Each student's home school reports their scores to the state for accreditation and Adequate Yearly Progress determination. The fact that Cook's scores affect other schools is not lost on Hagerty. Last year's passing rate is no small feat for a school where students come and go throughout the year.

Tonja Cofer said one of the main reasons her son Zack's grades have climbed while attending Cook is the extra help he gets from teachers and tutors. "He did a lot better here," Cofer said. "He gets a lot of one-on-one here, which I think he needs."

Hagerty said that as students' grades improve, so does their self- esteem. "We've got some talented kids if we can just get them going in the right direction."

Source: Richmond Times - Dispatch

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