Valley Pathways students sing school’s praises

PALMER — Students and parents from the Valley Pathways alternative high school asked the Mat-Su Borough School Board on Wednesday to protect a school many of them have come to think of as home.

During often emotional testimony, about a dozen current and former students and parents talked about disrupted education in the halls of traditional schools. Regular schools lacked the instructional time necessary to catch up or improve, which made Valley Pathways an essential part of their education.

Valley Pathways junior Miles Durand, 17, said he struggled with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and a challenging home life that made normal school difficult.

“High school came around, and I never saw my true potential, and just started going down the wrong path, and the teachers never really seemed to have time for the students, so I constantly fell behind and just accepted the fact that I must be stupid,” he said.

Durand said he got into trouble with the law and transferred to Valley Pathways as a way of changing his life. There, he said teachers had more time for students and he eventually came to enjoy his new home.

“The other students next to me accepted me for who I was, and I had never really experienced that before,” he said.

Eventually, Durand’s perspective changed, then his behavior. He is now a straight-A student, and among the top-ranked students in his class, he told the school board. He credits his time at Valley Pathways for the improvement.

“Finally, I felt accepted and realized I can achieve anything I set my mind to and no longer thought of myself as stupid,” he said.

Concerns about possible changes at Valley Pathways and Burchell High — another alternative school in the district — have been widespread on social media, sparked in part by discussion among principals about school reform at the high school level, superintendent Dr. Deena Paramo said.

The school system is facing an operating deficit of $9 million, and is looking at ways of better using resources, Paramo said. Discussions have involved limiting or changing admissions criteria for admission to the alternative schools, and looking at ways of boosting enrollment at Valley Pathways, where the average daily attendance, 120 students, is less than half of the newly constructed building’s designed 300-person capacity. Other areas of discussion have focused on matching the alternative schools’ trimester model with a two-semester model, which would more easily allow students to take classes at other schools, Paramo said.

“Are we using our resources to the highest potential benefit for children?” she said. “If the answer to that question is not in the absolute affirmative, we owe it to our students, parents, and all the taxpayers and all the people in this room and the Valley to examine our practices and make the necessary changes.”

Katie Bird graduated from Valley Pathways in 2005, then earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in education through the University of Alaska system. She’s also earned her state teaching certificate, and wants to return to the high school to teach one day.

“I credit Valley Pathways greatly with a lot of the success I’ve had in my life,” she said. “I feel like if Pathways had not been there and had not been what it was, then I would not be where I am today.”

Bird supports the alternative schools to serve students with non-traditional education needs.

“Not every single student is going to fit in the box that is the traditional school system,” she said.

Jacqueline McLean, a recent graduate, said she was caught in a vicious cycle before she arrived at Valley Pathways.

“My first two years of high school were fine,” she said. “I was doing fairly well, but the thing was I had a lot of issues at home, and I was unable to attend school on time.”

Her lateness would lead to tardiness infractions, which would in turn lead to suspensions, which would lead to instructional gaps, McLean said. That changed when she transferred to Valley Pathways.

“For the longest time, I felt like I didn’t exist within the school system, getting lost within public school systems, and when I finally transferred, people began to notice good parts about me that I didn’t notice about myself,” she said.

Paramo tried to ease students’ concerns about the district’s plans. She said neither alternative high school faces closure.

“As a final note, there has never been a plan to eliminate Valley Pathways or Burchell, such as has been posted on social media or perhaps told to students,” she said.

McLean and Durand said they felt better after Paramo’s remarks, but still worried about the particular future changes. For example, increased student enrollment could impact students.

“A lot of kids have anxiety, and if there are too many people in the classrooms, it’s just, it’s a lot,” she said.

McLean said she had originally taken the social media rumors with a grain of salt.

“I didn’t really go in expecting it to be a complete disaster,” she said.

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.