"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending." -C.S. Lewis
Families,
Below is the Alternative Learning Center's Transition Protocol. Please be mindful that your child's transition meetings usually takes place on their home campus upon their first date of re-enrollment. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to your transition facilitator.
Jason Romero
Transition Facilitator
(512) 841-6027
ALC Transition Protocol
It is the mission of the Alternative Education Department to provide a robust and rigorous blended learning academic environment for students, through the lens of cultural proficiency and responsiveness, by attending to the needs of the Whole Child and providing a restorative climate invested in healing harms and preparing students for a continued chance at academic and behavioral success. To guarantee our students have a smooth transition back to their home campus, transition facilitators will work collaboratively with the home campus to ensure prevention and effective intervention to student’s education.
Please review Texas Education Code Sec. 37.023 which requires the home campus transition team to meet and collaborate, to develop a personalized transition plan for each student.
In order to support your transition team the transition plan can be located in the student’s eCST profile under “ALC Student Transition Plan.” Portions of this document have been completed and will be periodically updated by staff at ALC during the student’s placement. Other portions should be completed by the home campus transition team.
Upon completion of the student’s DAEP Placement, students may immediately re-enroll/enroll at their home campus as early as the following school day. Students cannot be denied re-entry.
While it is the intention of the transition facilitators to hold a meeting for every student’s initial return, there are times when meetings do not occur due to scheduling conflicts and school initiatives. A student should never be denied enrollment as a result of the transition facilitator not being present for a meeting and must be re-enrolled per TEC 37.023
Transition meetings attended by a Transition Facilitator will be extended to 1. Most students on their first removals, 2. students with safety concerns, and 3. graduating seniors at risk of not completing graduation requirements, unless requested by a campus administrator.
In the interest of serving as many students as possible, transition facilitators will schedule one meeting. If for whatever reason the meeting does not occur at the scheduled date and time, families will be asked to re-enroll/enroll at their earliest availability without the transition facilitator’s presence at the meeting.
Because of the limited courses available at the ALC, it is imperative that home campuses work with our counselors to ensure students have access to their home campus elective courses. The point of contact to send coursework at the ALC is the following:
School Counselor, Pamela Jessie, pamela.jessie@austinisd.org
It is also critical that home campus staff communicate information regarding safety plans when applicable and additional mental/physical concerns. The point of contact to communicate this information at the ALC is the following:
Intake Specialist- Roxana Frederick - roxana.frederick@austinisd.org
Students cannot be punished academically due to a DAEP placement. Upon students return to their home campus, teachers should link grades into each of their respective gradebooks to ensure students continuity of their academic progress.
As a reminder, students’ removal periods cannot be extended for any reason other than an additional infraction. Therefore, please be mindful during removal hearings, if you wish for students’ returns to occur prior to the testing days. In the event that a student’s return aligns with a testing day, they must be allowed to re-enroll/register.
Part of reinventing the Urban School experience entails a restorative climate, thus students should not be penalized twice for the same infraction. Since In School Suspension is a disciplinary removal, students should resume their normal schedule upon their return from a DAEP placement and be given the opportunity to heal harms and prepare for a continued chance at academic and behavioral success.
As always, we welcome home campuses sending their staff to check on students. The transition facilitator’s role does not replace this component. This helps to ensure the students’ transition is a fluid process.
We look forward to working with our home campuses in an effort to continue to support our students and their success.
- Transition Facilitation Team