Mead Education Alternative Department Alternative High School

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M.E.A.D. Alternative High School is an innovative learning community of non-traditional students and instructors. Located in north Spokane, Washington this progressive institution is designed to accommodate the unique learning needs of each member in a supportive and positive environment.

Student admission is mediated by a personal interview, which seeks to establish the willingness of the applicant to challenge themselves and take responsibility in achieving personal and academic growth. Students apply to the school voluntarily, and an admissions wait-list is not uncommon.

M.E.A.D. (Mead Education Alternative Department) is approximately ten times smaller than other mainstream high schools in the Mead School District, and has a significantly lower student to teacher ratio which allows for multiple schedules of study.

The CORE program is a group learning format involving independent projects and evaluation, group community service and overnight field trips, school and community wide presentations, etc.

The GSL (Guided Student Learning) program consists of a weekly minimum hour long one-on-one meeting between the student and advisor in which assignments are evaluated, proposed, delivered and designed. This option is most popular among students who may have other full or part time obligations such as providing child care to offspring or siblings, attending college classes, or work opportunities.

A highly qualified staff of passionate and dedicated instructors directly administers school operations in a conference-style, consensus building format. Student input is highly valued and encouraged through the regular participation of student representatives. The campus is a drug, smoke and fire-arm free environment that features band and choir rooms, as well as a community garden, large group meeting and performance space, private conference and supply rooms, and art and science activity centers. Classes are not held in secluded rooms, but are instead conducted in the stations occupied by each instructor. Students sit at a common table at which they can face and communicate with everyone at the station.

Standardized test scores associated with this school are inherently skewed given state policy requiring the inclusion of "zero" scores for students who could not be reached for testing or could not complete the evaluation process, as well as other equally significant factors. In contrast to some alternative high school programs that take a punitive and/or disciplinarian approach to students interaction, M.E.A.D. is distinct in its compassionate, yet firm, approach to student development.