Lagging eighth-graders get help

Catching up may cut dropout rate

RALEIGH -- Zach Boswell is taking full advantage of his second chance to get back on track in school.

Zach is part of a pilot program at Mount Vernon Middle School in Raleigh that aims to help overage eighth-grade students get caught up academically. In less than a month, Zach will be in high school -- where he should have been -- instead of being a 15-year-old middle school student.

"I want to move forward," Zach said. "I'd rather be ahead than behind."

Helping students such as Zach get caught up is a big deal, Wake County school officials say, because it can mean the difference between staying in school or dropping out. Students who have been held back, making them older than their peers, are more likely to drop out.

In Wake County alone, there are 237 eighth-graders who will be at least 15 years old by the end of this school year. Most eighth-graders are 13 or 14 years old.

"They have the ability to be successful, but they need a nurturing learning environment," said James Hargett, principal of Mount Vernon Middle.

This was the impetus for the Wake school system starting the program at Mount Vernon, an alternative school, to help overage students get caught up.

The school system chose 13 eighth-graders who will turn 15 by the end of this school year to participate in the new 8th Grade Booster Program. The students are cramming a year's worth of work into one semester that should allow them to complete the eighth grade by mid-January.

Fran Hughes, the counselor who runs the program, said the 11 remaining students are all on pace to graduate. They will become ninth-graders at Phillips High School, another alternative school, starting in January.

"They're good kids who just needed another chance," Hughes said.

Johnny Ray Adams, 15, said being in a smaller class with students his own age has helped him maintain good grades this semester. He attended North Garner Middle School last year before joining the booster program.

"There aren't as many people here," Johnny Ray said. "I can focus more on my work."

In addition to schoolwork, students are required to perform community service projects. They repair bicycles for 4-H, visit senior citizens at the Total Life Center in Cary, tutor elementary school students at the Bridges Program and pick up recyclables at Mount Vernon.

"They're developing leadership skills," said Tex Bennett of the Wake County 4-H Youth Development Program. "They're giving back to the community."

The bicycles, many of which are donated by Flythe Cyclery of Raleigh, are worked on by the students and given to needy children in the community.

School officials are working on selecting the next group of students to enter the program in January. They will offer over-age seventh-graders a chance to finish the eighth grade next semester so they can start high school in August.

Plans are under way to expand the program, but money is the issue. This year, the program is funded by $112,000 that was originally intended for the John Baker Charter High School before that school was closed by the state.

Marvin Connelly, Wake's assistant superintendent for student services, said the district wants to offer the booster program next year at a second alternative school, River Oaks Middle. He said officials want to expand the number of students being served to between 28 and 35 per semester at Mount Vernon and River Oaks.

The long-term success of the program, Connelly said, will be measured by how well the students do in high school. For now, things look good.

"It's been working very well," Connelly said. "They feel like they have a chance."