Cornwall Alternative School
October 11, 2005
By Nicole Zummach
REGINA, SK // When young people fall through the cracks of the traditional school system they usually don't have a lot of options. Too young to get a job, they often end up hanging out on the streets with other kids in similar situations. The lucky ones will find a better option, such as Cornwall Alternative School. Established in 1972, this private school welcomes kids who are having difficulty within the mainstream school system, whether it's attendance or behaviour issues, or because the huge gaps in their education mean they can't keep up with the curriculum. Three teachers, two counsellors, and an outreach worker, along with the principal and support staff, work with a small group of students between the ages of 12 and 16, providing them with the opportunity to address problems and obstacles that hindered their success at other schools. The goal is to prepare these young people to rejoin their peers and, hopefully, go on to graduate from high school. Cornwall seems to have the right approach; their success rate with students is exemplary and they have received the Donner Award for Traditional Education five times, including 2004, as well as the overall award in 2002. CharityVillage spoke with Eunice Cameron, principal and CEO, about the challenges facing their students, what needs to change, and how the school measures success and strives for excellence.
CharityVillage: You offer an alternative to the mainstream school system, so how do you differ?
Eunice Cameron: Our curriculum is SaskLearning-based because we want the kids to be able to go back into the regular stream and have the things they need. The 'alternative' part is that because we are a very small school - there are 34 students here - we have a philosophy of caring. We were all trained in Circle of Courage, with Dr. Martin Brokenleg. It's very much about circling the child with people who will help them succeed.
CV: What kind of outcome monitoring do you do? How do you measure success as an organization?
EC: We measure success by students leaving our school and making it [in the regular school system] for one year. That usually takes them through grade ten, depending on when they leave our school. Our rate of success is 87%, which is phenomenal! We support the schools by helping them to get our kids integrated, because sometimes our kids go to other schools with a mark already on their forehead. We have to work really hard then, and these kids have done a lot of work and they understand what they did and what they need to do now. We use what's called restitution, which means that if there is a problem then they need to work it out. We believe that all behaviour is meaningful, so there is a reason they do what they do. It isn't because they are 'bad; there is always a reason. We train them so that once they leave here they will have a method of handling situations that they couldn't handle before.
CV: I'm guessing you do a lot of collaborative work, not just with the schools, but others as well.
EC: Absolutely. We run a parent group here, where we work together to teach the kids how to be parents too, because we believe that you need to break the cycle. We also have a support group for the parents; we want to support them and help them make things better. You have to be open and willing to do what you are doing and not simply expecting others to do it. Once you show them that you are willing to walk the mile, then they are more willing to walk the mile too.
CV: What challenges are you currently facing?
EC: There are a lot of kids who are out of school - not ours but others - so we are working with the community to tell them that something has to start happening here. There are kids with us who have been out of school for four or five years. What happens is that they might show up in September and then again in June. They go forward because there is a non-retention policy until grade nine. There has been a lot of research that shows that for self-esteem and other reasons [retention] doesn't work. My problem is that they come here in grade seven or eight and some of them don't even have their adding and subtracting down. This is not because they don't have the ability - our kids are extremely bright - but because they've never seen what they need to do. I'm really bothered with kids not in school. I believe, very strongly, that all kids should be in school until they are at least 16, but there are lots who are falling through the cracks.
Thirty-four years ago our school started with a social worker and a teacher walking around the park talking to kids. Then the kids would come to them saying 'I can't read this' or 'I need help with this' or 'Have I been cheated out of money?'. They would get these kids into a room and teach them skills, then slowly it grew into a house, and now we're in a school. And you know, I think it's time again to get people out walking the streets and getting to these kids. We're now probably into the second or third generation of families where school has not been successful for them.
CV: What are some of the factors contributing to this situation?
EC: I think that addiction is becoming a real problem. The family breakdown is another factor. We need to somehow build a community that supports children. A lot of people are afraid of kids, and sometimes the kids want adults to be afraid because it keeps them away. I really think we need to put more value on children and youth. I don't see that a lot; we talk but I don't see it being put into action. That has to happen.
CV: You've received the Traditional Education category award five times and the overall Donner Award once. What have you learned about your organization through the application and evaluation process?
EC: Receiving their evaluation is worth going through the work that is required to apply. It goes to our board every time and we've looked at the responsibility of the board and how the board works. We've done a lot of work on what is expected of volunteers and how volunteers should be treated and what they need. That's all because of the Donner Awards. Their evaluation is so thorough. We've done a lot of work with that, especially in volunteerism and the board. For volunteers we now have an orientation, and for the board we've reviewed their role and created role descriptions. Even if you receive nothing else, it is worth the evaluation you get back from them for applying.
For more information about Cornwall Alternative School,
e-mail eunice.ca@sk_sympatico.ca or call 306-522-0044.
To learn more about the Donner Awards, visit: www.fraserinstitute.ca/donner/index.asp.
