• February 12, 2024

     

    Dear Parents and Community Members:

    We are communicating with you to present the Annual Education Report (AER) which provides key information on the 2023-24 educational progress for Carman-Ainsworth Community Schools Alternative Program: Atlantis Alternative High School. The AER addresses the complex reporting information required by federal and state laws. The school’s report contains information about student assessment, accountability, and teacher quality. If you have any questions or suggestions about the AER or the alternative program, please contact Jennifer Thornton, Principal.

    The AER is electronically available for you to review by visiting the following web site: https://bit.ly/36Opdqv or attached to our school’s website. You may also request a copy of the AER in the main office of your child’s school. You can also get help understanding your school’s AER here: https://bit.ly/3quFzfV.

    A Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) school is one that has at least one underperforming student subgroup. An Additional Targeted Support (ATS) school is one that has three or more underperforming student subgroups. A Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school is one whose performance is in the lowest 5% of all schools in the state or has a graduation rate at or below 67%. Some schools are not identified with any of these labels. In these cases, no label is given. As an alternative program, our school has not been given these labels. Our school has a unique, highly transient and fragile student population that has a great need for additional  academic and behavioral support, which our program provides.

    Our students traditionally come to our program through a referral process based on the following school areas: academic progress is behind for their assigned grade, attendance issues, behavioral issues, change of placement due to disciplinary actions, or students who are seeking a smaller environment. Our program’s original intent is to provide an avenue for credit recovery towards grade course accomplishments to return to correct grade or obtain a high school diploma.

    To meet additional state requirements of the state law, we also report some additional information on the two most recent years with some of the following items:

    1. PROCESS FOR ASSIGNING PUPILS TO THE SCHOOL: Referral Process from Administration and Counselors at Carman Ainsworth High School or Carman Ainsworth Middle School.
    2. STATUS OF THE 3-5 YEAR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN: The Michigan Integrated Continuous Improvement Process (MICIP) is the pathway by which districts improve student outcomes by assessing whole child needs to develop plans and coordinate funding. Atlantis Alternative High School works with the district to facilitate the MICIP process through District Continuous Improvement.
    3. IDENTIFY HOW TO ACCESS A COPY OF THE CORE CURRICULUM: Pearson’s Connexus, Grades 7-12 Curriculums. Beginning in 2015 our alternative program provided an online educational curriculum that allows students to work with their mentor-teachers to complete course credits towards a high school diploma or return to their appropriate grade level, in their cohort. The online curriculum provides ample course scheduling for nearly any student’s needs to complete course credits. Students’ options towards graduation can happen in the following ways due to the flexibility and depth of the on-line course curriculum:
      1. Recover credits to return to their appropriate grade-level and graduate
      2. Complete credits towards a high school diploma with Atlantis Alternative H.S.
      3. Complete credits at an accelerated pace to graduate ahead of cohort (early) to move onto career or college choices
    4. AGGREGATE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT RESULTS: Based on Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) assessment data, our students come to our program significantly behind the national average RIT Score. The most recent test data from Winter 2023-2024 reflects that our student median percentile RIT scores are as follows:
      1. Mathematics: 23rd percentile
      2. Reading: 23rd percentile
    5. Family and parental involvement is a priority at Atlantis Alternative High School. Our staff sends progress reports home biweekly, as well as utilizing ParentVue and StudentVue to keep parents and guardians informed of their students’ progress. We offer two face-to-face Parent-Teacher Conferences per year, as well as numerous opportunities to discuss progress periodically throughout the school year. Our October Parent-Teacher Conference attendance rate was 15%, but phone and Zoom conferences were offered as an alternative.
    6. FOR HIGH SCHOOLS, ONLY ALSO REPORT ON THE FOLLOWING:
      1. The number and percent of Post-Secondary Enrollment, or Dual Enrollment: 1 student participating in DE 2023-2024
      2. The number of College Equivalent Courses Offered (AP/IB Courses): n/a
      3. The number of and percentage of students enrolled in College Equivalent Courses: (AP/IB): n/a
      4. The number of and percentage of students receiving a score leading to a College Credit: n/a

    The Atlantis staff is constantly reviewing student data pertaining to performance, attendance and behavior to continuously improve the learning environment for all of our students. We believe in our students, and their potential and are continuously dedicated to seeking out opportunities to best serve them.

    Sincerely,

    Jennifer Thornton

    Principal

    Atlantis Alternative High School