Educational Model
Stark High School Model
Stark High School will provide a successful curriculum model based upon the Educational Empowerment Group (EEG) Academic Plan listed below.
Academic Plan
High-risk students are unsuccessful not because they do not want to succeed, but rather due to not having a system that is designed to meet their needs. Stark High School is based upon the premise that high-risk students have different needs, learn at different rates and have diverse learning styles. Currently these are not being addressed by traditional public schools, causing many high-risk students to be disengaged and apathetic toward school.
Whereas many schools focus mainly on providing educational services,Stark High School, by contrast, is multi-dimensional. The Stark High School focus is holistic—encompassing the whole body, mind and emotional well-being of a student. This holistic approach is taught and promoted throughout the course of the school year. We view each student as having strengths not deficits and our programs and practices are adapted to provide the support each student requires to achieve their fullest potential.
Each year, the numbers of students who enter school with circumstances in their lives that impede their educational success are increasing. Stark High School desires to be the school that each individual student requires. Each student also enters school with unique and distinct needs. These individual needs must be met prior to becoming a successful student.
Stark High School’s vision involves a hierarchy of needs that we have identified as relevant to the educational process. These needs can be visualized as forming a pyramid based upon Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as referenced in the chart above that consist of, in ascending order, physical and biological needs, safety needs, emotional and love needs, self-esteem needs, and finally self-actualization. Each level must be at least somewhat firmly in place before the next level can be successfully met. The traditional approach to education ignores the more basic needs and only minimally addresses emotional and self-esteem needs. Because academic learning lies in the upper portion of this hierarchy, attempts at education will not work unless the needs below this position in the hierarchy have been sufficiently filled.
Stark High School will increase academic performance by providing programs and systems that address each student’s hierarchy of needs. These programs will consist of initiatives that incorporate the family and the community. Addressing students’ emotional needs includes affecting the environment in which they live. Connecting the family and community with the school will set the foundation for academic achievement.
Stark High School has a very targeted approach to achieving an academic standing of excellence. The Seven Pillars of Success shows Stark High School’s focus and the variables that will be deployed to lead student achievement and overall school success.
While maintaining academic achievement as the main focus we will utilize the above pillars to drive the increase in student achievement.