While a counselor in many high schools might be responsible for hundreds of students, Class Academy's counselor, Susan Gansman, talks to most of her students every day. At her regular school, sixth-grader Brandy Brubaker had a history of confrontations and was not completing schoolwork. She was getting D's and F's. Generally, students will attend Magellan for one or two semesters. Students get an hour of individual counseling and an hour of group counseling, and additional counseling as crises arise.
Special programs teach anger management and get kids talking about staying out of trouble.
A handful of NFL football teams support local programs that provide skilled teachers and tutors, small classes, and ample resources to students at risk of dropping out. Two thirds of its students are boys, and 85 percent are minorities. Each class has 20 to 25 students and two adults, a teacher and a tutor. The school has a zero-tolerance policy for fighting, skipping classes, and class disruption. Last year, six students were expelled from the program.