Evaluation will be both continuous and comprehensive. The A.C.E. Program is a 30-day residential, educational, and wilderness experience for 165 third fourth and fifth grade students per year. This prevention program provides a highly structured classroom with certified teachers. Besides academics, students learn problem solving skills, crisis management skills, and acceptance of personal responsibility through a variety of outdoor, environmental, and team-building activities. Other components include mandatory weekly parenting workshops, a transition period where students live at camp but attend their regular classroom during the day, and long-term follow through up through the completion of seventh grade.
Staff collaborate with local youth agencies to provide continued service during the teen years.
A.C.E. graduates who are subsequently suspended or expelled would participate in additional educational programming-a new enhancement to the A.C.E. program. The program is built on the research-based framework of the Youth Development Model for Resilience developed by WestEd. The approach to learning will support students in how they learn best, where they learn best and when they learn best. Technology is a key resource in the program. This interactive community school will allow students to learn anytime and anywhere.