The Ames School Board will decide next week whether to give Ames High drop-out students the opportunity to earn their diploma in an alternative learning environment.

The Ames School District’s Accelerated Learning Program has designed the “XCel College-Based Dropout/Dropout Prevention Pilot Program” for drop-out students to earn a high school diploma in a college environment.

Ames Superintendent Nick Johns said the school board was “enthusiastic” about the program at the last meeting but will make their final decision Monday.

Johns said students in the program will have to meet the same graduation requirements as Ames High students, but the teaching methods will be altered. Finalized teaching plans have not been drawn up, he said.

“The students will not have to meet rigid semester deadlines,” he said. “They will reach the same level of mastery but with an alternative method.”

There has been a high amount of drop-outs in the school district, Johns said. He said at any given time there are about 35 to 46 individuals who are not enrolled at Ames High, but who live in the area. “We don’t think there should ever be a drop-out in the Ames area,” he said.

Clemmye Jackson, coordinator of the accelerated learning program, said the high school environment is the main reason students drop out. She said this program will provide an alternative environment with a smaller classroom setting. “Students mature much better in interaction with college students on a campus,” she said. “They take their work more seriously.”

Jackson said XCel will be the first drop-out program in Ames, so students won’t have to commute to drop-out programs in Nevada, Boone or Ankeny.

If passed, the program will begin during the spring semester of 2001. The program will meet from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, so the students can work or take care of their children during the day, Jackson said.

Jackie Blount, associate dean for curriculum and instruction in the College of Education, said she has been discussing Iowa State’s role in XCel with Jackson for the past seven or eight months.

Blount said Iowa State will provide a space in Lagomarcino Hall, a few computers and audio-visual equipment. The Ames School District will hire a teacher for the program, but Blount said ISU students, faculty and staff said they want to help out, too.

“I have a number of students eager to work with high school students, and this evening schedule will allow them to keep their college classes,” she said.

Michael McGrory, Ames High principal, said he thinks XCel will benefit drop-out students greatly.

“It’s a working relationship between Iowa State University and the Ames School District that I hope evolves and continues to grow,” he said. “I’d be amazed if it wasn’t passed Monday.”