|
| |
New Charter Public High School, Life Skills Center Of Colorado Springs,
Begins Enrolling Students
Community-based charter school enables students to complete high school
and earn a full high school diploma while fulfilling their family and work
obligations
Life Skills Center of Colorado Springs today announced the opening of a new
charter high school designed to serve up to 300 students. The new tuition-free
school is now pre-enrolling students, and classes are scheduled to start in
September. The Life Skills Center of Colorado Springs’ temporary enrollment
office is located at 412 South Tejon St., (719) 471-0684. When the new school’s
construction is complete in September, the Life Skills Center of Colorado
Springs will be located at 1810 Eastlake Blvd., just east of South Union Blvd.
To learn more about Life Skills Centers, visit us on the web at
www.lifeskillscenters.com.
The Life Skills Center of Colorado Springs is authorized and funded through
Colorado Springs School District 11. The non-profit Life Skills Center Board has
selected White Hat Management, LLC, one of the nation’s premier education
service providers, to operate the school. White Hat has extensive experience
managing schools that offer communities, parents, and students a high-quality,
tuition-free alternative to traditional public schools. Colorado Springs School
District 11 supports the Life Skills Center, recognizing that a significant
number of young people in the community could benefit from such a program.
“We are very excited about the opening of the Life Skills Center of Colorado
Springs,” said Mark Thimmig, CEO and president of White Hat Ventures LLC, parent
company of the privately operated White Hat Management, LLC. “Life Skills is a
unique, proven program reaching thousands of dropout students across the country
each year. Life Skills Center graduates possess not only a high school diploma,
but also valuable work experience, life skills, and the motivation to pursue
their dreams.”
“Life Skills has a strong, community-centered Board, which is dedicated to
success for our students, our community, and finally the economic vitality of
the region,” said José Aponte, Member of the nonprofit School Board of Life
Skills Center of Colorado Springs, and Executive Director of the Pikes Peak
Library District. “Every child deserves the opportunity to succeed grow, and
develop to their fullest potential. We believe Life Skills has the proven
capacity to deliver on that promise.”
The Life Skills Center is a public community school specifically designed to
accommodate students ages 16 to 21 who have had difficulty with the rigid
routine of traditional public high schools. The school is intended to assist
students who have dropped out from a traditional high school program. Graduates
earn state-recognized high school diplomas—not GEDs—that are fully recognized by
colleges, universities, employers, and the U.S. military.
Life Skills Center students have many of the same state graduation requirements
as other Colorado Springs Public School students; however, at a Life Skills
Center, students are given the flexibility of selecting one of several different
schedules to achieve the requisite educational credits and testing
accomplishments so that a student may also fulfill his or her family and work
obligations at the same time. The three possible classes, which are
computer-based and teacher-supported, Monday through Friday, 46 weeks per year,
include 8 a.m. to noon; 10:15 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.; and 1:30 to 5:30. As demand
warrants, a fourth session in the evening may be added.
“Under the direction of our local administrator in Colorado Springs, our staff
will deliver a mix of academics, life skills, and career preparation,” Thimmig
said. “Students are treated as individuals, who work at their own pace and level
to accomplish their goals.
“One of the hallmarks of the Life Skills program is that it is carefully aligned
with the needs of students and the local community. Our Board Members are
committed to assisting young people who need to complete their high school
diploma. We carefully select our staff from the community to attract people who
share our vision for operating first-rate community-based charter schools of
choice. Life Skills Centers are located along major lines of public
transportation, and offer flexible class times to enable students to pursue
their education while fulfilling their work and family responsibilities.”
As of December 2003, approximately 3,600 students have received their high
school diplomas from Life Skills Centers currently operated by White Hat
Management. Many graduates go on to college, trade school, military service, or
into a career where their earning potential is significantly greater than
before.
About White Hat Management
The privately operated White Hat Management, founded in 1998 by Akron, Ohio
industrialist and education activist David Brennan, is among the premier
full-service education service providers in the United States dedicated to
educating K-12 students. The company is the largest charter school operator in
Ohio. White Hat operates 35 schools, with three distinct educational offerings:
Life Skills Centers; HOPE Academies, which are community-based charter public
schools for kindergarten through tenth grade; DELA Academy, which provides
distance education to students in their homes in Ohio and Pennsylvania. White
Hat currently employs more than 1,400 people, including nearly 1,300 teachers,
staff and administrators in the schools it operates. For more information, visit
www.whitehatmgmt.com.
| |
|
