Does your child have a problem in school? Does he or she need special services – counseling, smaller classes, a self-paced environment or maybe night classes?
Whatever the need, DISD superintendent Chad Woolery says the district can meet it.
DISD has a magnet school that provides childcare for pregnant teenagers. DISD also works with El Centro Community College so that students can attend college classes to earn some high school credits, getting a head start on their college requirements.
The Metropolitan Learning Center is designed for students who fall behind. Woolery says it’s a self-paced, year-round school that allows students to make up courses they are missing.
For students with discipline problems, there is the School Community Guidance Center, which provides a special curriculum and programs. And one of DISD’s most recent endeavors is the LACEY Center, a school for students convicted of crimes. The school is the first of its kind in the nation, Woolery says.
“It allows many of them to get a second chance,” Woolery says.
Providing an education doesn’t stop during the summer. DISD offers an extensive summer program for students who fall behind, need special services or just want extra enrichment, says Larry Smith, director of the district’s summer programs and principal of Bryan Adams High School.
Most summer courses require tuition, but Smith says community groups have sponsored low-income students in some instances.
Smith says some private school students attend DISD summer school to catch-up on course requirements and then transfer the courses back to their school.
