(Frankfort, KY) – In an effort to recognize the work of educators and programs that serve students with a variety of learning needs, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has named 10 Alternative Programs of Distinction. The Kentucky Board of Education recognized the programs at its regular June meeting in Frankfort.

An alternative education program exists to meet student needs that cannot be addressed in a traditional classroom setting, but can be met through the assignment of students to alternative classrooms, centers or campuses that are designed to remediate academic performance, improve behavior or provide enhanced learning experiences. Alternative education programs do not include career or technical centers or departments.

The 10 programs named Alternative Programs of Distinction for 2018, with the districts that operate or staff them in parentheses, are:

  • Adair Youth Development Center (Adair County)
  • Calloway County Day Treatment Center (Calloway County)
  • Covington Alternative Programs (Covington Independent)
  • Cumberland Hall School (Christian County)
  • Jackson Academy (Warren County)
  • McCracken Regional School (McCracken County)
  • McDaniel Learning Center (Laurel County)
  • Perry County Alternative School (Perry County)
  • Ramey-Estep High School (Boyd County)
  • Western Day Treatment (Jefferson County)

Each program selected as an Alternative Program of Distinction receives $2,000 from KDE for instructional support. Information on the schools also will be posted on the KDE website so other schools can use the programs as models.

KDE began highlighting exemplary practices in public school alternative programs in 2009. Alternative programs include school district-operated and district-housed instructional programs that provide services to students with a variety of unique needs. They also can be district-operated instructional programs that are located in nondistrict facilities or schools and serve youth who are considered state agency children through the Kentucky Educational Collaborative for State Agency Children (KECSAC), the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Community Based Services and/or the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities.