Continuation high school

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Not to be confused with Continuing education.

A continuation high school is an alternative to a comprehensive high school primarily for students who are considered at-risk of not graduating at the normal pace. The requirements to graduate are the same but the scheduling is more flexible to allow students to earn their credits at a quicker pace since they are usually behind when they arrive at the continuation high school. Students who attend these schools may include discipline problems, drug users, and pregnant teens and teenage mothers^[1] . Continuation schools, however, may also be used for mentally gifted students who find regular high school pace below their level.

[edit] Denmark

Historicly there has been a tradition to detain unruly or criminal youth at continuation schools (Efterskoler) rather than juvenile halls ^[2]. The Danish continuation schools cover 8th to 10th form. Recently fashion like hip-hop for wearing T-shirt with the term "Inmate" and foreign jailnames have meant an increased demand for volutary admission of normal youth at the continuation schools in order to appear tough among peers.

The association of the Danish Industry has critized this new development as too costly for the society and a waste of a full year in a time where there is shortage of labor ^[3] ^[4].

The disciplinary precautions are limited, restraint are not allowed, which result in up to between 25 to 33 percent of the youth to be expelled during a year at some schools. A single incident caused a school to expel 25 percent of the total number of student on one day ^[5].