Opportunity Network Schools Foster Inclusivity In Education

“Inclusion is not a strategy to help people fit into the systems and structures which exist in our societies; it is about transforming those systems and structures to make it better for everyone.” — Diane Richler

Traditional schooling models – the ones we tend to think of as the norm – generally take a broad-stroke approach to education. These models adapt a structure which is applied to all the students in it, regardless of any differences in ability, interest, or circumstance. There are pitfalls to this approach, obviously; every student needs different things in order to flourish, and a one-size-fits-all approach to educational needs guarantees students will fall through the unnecessarily wide cracks of such a system. 

Alternative schooling can be the net that ensures those students – and their futures – aren’t forfeit.

What is alternative schooling?

Alternative schooling is any model that is nontraditional in its approach to curriculum, methods, structure, or other features. Accelerated schools, homeschool, and specialty-focused programs (i.e. GED programs) are examples of alternative schooling models. While they may vary, every model is designed with characteristics that promote inclusivity in the learning environment, like opportunities for individualized, hands-on instruction, low student to teacher ratios, non-traditional evaluation and assessment tools, etc.

Alternative schools focus on individual needs, strengths, and interests to offer a highly personalized learning experience catered to the success of each student, so curricula are often flexible and adaptable. Alternative schools generally value hands-on, or experiential, learning. Finally, many alternative schooling models liberally integrate wraparound mental health supports and resources, for holistic well-being.

By building a supportive, flexible learning environment that is designed to meet the diverse individual needs of their students – regardless of background, circumstance, or ability – alternative schooling models play a crucial role in promoting inclusivity in education.

Particularly important in Philadelphia

The Opportunity Network is the alternative schooling apparatus of the School District of Philadelphia. With over 20 programs across the city, the Opportunity Network “provides non-traditional educational options for out-of-school youth, students who are significantly at risk for dropping out, and students who are subject to disciplinary transfer or expulsion”. Their mission is: 

“To provide high quality educational programs and supports that prepare, encourage and empower ALL students to achieve their full academic and social potential. Our Network affords students the opportunity for success by assessing their individual needs and providing alternative pathways to graduation. All Philadelphia students have access to an alternative path to graduation regardless of age, ability or circumstance.”

Opportunity Network Schools programs each fit one of three models to help accomplish that goal: Accelerated High Schools, Transition and Continuation, or Education Options program (EOP). Accelerated High Schools serve students between 16 and 21 years old who are at least two years behind in school and have fewer than 13.5 credits toward graduation; Transition and Continuation programs serve middle and high school students with Code of Conduct infractions necessitating a disciplinary transfer, or those who need a smaller, more flexible program; and the EOP is a flexible evening program designed to serve adults 18 and over who want to pursue their diploma at a pace and on a schedule that works for them.

Access to alternative pathways to graduation is a critical part of inclusivity in education. The School District of Philadelphia serves about 198,299 students every year, and has struggled for some time with sluggish academic performance and dwindling student engagement across its schools. In fact, as of 2024, about 41% of Philadelphia public schools are classified as low-achieving (defined as schools that score in the bottom 15% on yearly standardized math and reading tests). At the same time, the average graduation rate over the last three years is around 75.4%. Even though that figure reflects a slight bump from last year (the .4% is new gain), it still falls significantly short of the target graduation rate for public high schools set by the District, which is 85%.

YESPhilly and One Bright Ray: Doing schooling differently

YES (Youth Empowerment Services) Philly Accelerated High School and One Bright Ray (OBR) Community High School are both Accelerated High Schools in the Opportunity Network that have seen incredible success in supporting thriving, happy, and engaged students. Each of the schools is a 501(c)3 non-profit agency – Youth Empowerment Services (YES) and One Bright Ray (OBR), Inc. – and is contracted with the School District to provide educational support to Philadelphia students.

YES and OBR both offer  project- based instruction that integrates workforce and professional development opportunities into a diploma-granting program. Like the other schools in the Opportunity Network, they both also offer extensive extracurricular enrichment as well as a community grounded in restorative practice and robust mental health, behavioral, and emotional support, that employs counselors, therapists, and specialists to try to mitigate the barriers to attendance and success as much as possible.  

YES aims to develop a broad base of opportunities for Philadelphia’s youth through hands-on instruction, community and professional partnerships for exposure opportunities to diverse career options, and project- based learning. OBR is very much aligned in those aims. In addition, they offer an evening program for adults 18 and over with no upper limit (they currently boast a 72-year-old student on their enrollment roster).

Both schools have taken the intentional approach to designing a learning environment with a difference their students can feel. CEO of YES, Gary Paprocki, knows students who have not found success at other schools and are at risk of becoming altogether disengaged need actual incentive to return, especially the ones navigating challenges like justice involvement, parenting, homelessness, or others with little to no support.

“You really have to give them that sense of time and support [until they can say], ‘OK, I feel heard. Now I can put some of that anxiety down or off to the side, and I guess I can go to that class now and try to pay attention’.” 

Paprocki asserts that educators can’t simply demand a return to class. “That won’t work, they’ve got to have that social and emotional support.” From the students’ point of view, he asks, “‘So your school is smaller, so what?’ I still have all this chaos going on in my life- what’s going to be different?’”

Monica Hawk, CEO of One Bright Ray, inc. understands just as well where her students are coming from. “We know that our students come to us for a reason, and some of them come to us without a lot of supports at home or in their community”, she says. “So we try to make it as much as possible like a one-stop shop. You’re going to get your academics here, but you’re also going to feel safe, you’re going to feel loved.”

“Safe” and “loved” are not generally common descriptions used by Philadelphia youth to describe their educational experience or environment. And students largely don’t have the luxury of assurance that their school even sees them beyond the chaos of their lives. And that might be the most important difference between alternative schools and traditional ones: YES and OBR both observe a core tenet of making sure their current students – and the prospective students both schools work so hard to court – feel truly seen and cared for. The students know that they are wanted, valued, and championed for, and that seems to be making a significant difference to their experience.

The students feel the benefit

Tyleef, Rashia, Joseph, and Jamair all attend classes at YES, and were part of the group of students who traveled to Paris, France as part of Philly In Paris, an initiative geared toward violence interruption (recently covered by Generocity). They all agreed that they felt more seen and valued at YES than at any of their previous schools. When asked what they thought was working well, they shared that the low student to teacher ratio at YES gives them plenty of time, space, and personalized attention to actually learn.

For example, Rashia values hands-on instruction, but it was difficult to get at her last school, which had, “like 30 students or more to a classroom. But here, there’s probably no more than ten in a class, so you can get more interaction with teachers, and they can be more hands-on with you.” 

Joseph says, “I like to ask questions to the teacher but in a big classroom, they don’t want you to ask questions. They want to move on.” 

Echoing the sentiment from his own experience, Jamair pointed out, “They tell you one thing, and they have to rush to another kid”. 

Tyleef experiences social anxiety, which can make being stuck in a small class with too many people feel overwhelming. “When that happens”, he says, “I tend to not stay in the class.” He says it happens a lot less at YES due to the smaller class sizes; but even if anxiety were as frequent, Tyleef and other students feel safe taking care of themselves – i.e. stepping out of class for space to regulate – without punishment.

Strong interpersonal relationships between students and staff seem to be critical to successful outcomes, but they demand an investment of time and capacity, and both are scarce in mainstream schools. Joseph names it directly: “I don’t want to just attribute [the difference] to the class size; I think it’s some of the teachers. Ms. Channell, she’s a great person, and I think that helps a lot.”

Channell Forrest, school counselor at YES, agrees that the relationships make all the difference. She previously worked as a school counselor at a much larger district middle school, and she observes, “I felt that I wasn’t serving the students there, just because there were so many.” Forrest tried to build a connection with all of her students, but some of those connections weren’t as strong as they could have been, for sheer lack of capacity. “And they would throw me in to try to solve a problem, but I didn’t have that connection with the student.” In contrast, about YES, she says “I like it here – the interpersonal connections, the one-on-ones, even the relationships with parents.”

At OBR, students Al-amin and Zabdiel tell a similar story. Before OBR, Zabdiel’s previous school was also huge, “like a mini castle”. He says his grades improved a lot once he transferred. “Coming to OBR was actually fantastic. I had good grades in Olney but not as good as here.” He points out a potential reason for this, “I feel like we have more interactions with the teachers, and it feels like better communication. Working with them is much easier.”

Aside from a more optimal instructional approach, Zabdiel also appreciates the support structures built into his learning environment. “The amount of people you have to talk to [means] this is a place where a lot of people can feel safe, and they focus a lot on relationships with teachers, staff and students.” 

Al-amin can attest to the value of personalized learning and attentive support. The main challenge in mainstream school was motivation. “When I was in my old school, I didn’t really want to come to school because I didn’t feel any motivation.” Without the support of teachers or peers, Al-amin “ended up dropping out my second month of high school and I had no credits.” The program could have taken three years, but with encouragement of staff, Al-amin is positioned to graduate in May of this year. “Shout out to Ms. Carr [Akera Carr, College and Career Counselor, OBR Fairhill campus], Ms. Hall [Akosua Hall, Educational Support Teacher at OBR Fairhill campus], Ms. Renee, and Ms. Mitchell [former College and Career Counselor and Educational Support Teacher, resp.].”

Opportunity Network schools face challenges

The challenges both YES and OBR face in their work is unique and very specific to them as organizations which serve and educate students, but which aren’t classified officially as schools. Since they are non-profit programs in a contract partnership with the School District of Philadelphia, they aren’t strictly of the district; rather, they are programs offered through the school district. As Paprocki points out, this puts YES in a nebulous space when it comes to being included in the distribution of resources and funds, attention, support, or anything. YES is not entitled to all the funding the school district receives, but their attachment to the school makes them unattractive to potential external funders who assume they have school district funding at their disposal. This unclarity can often cause the school — and by extension its students — to be overlooked.

Hawk can attest to this at OBR, adding that some of the things that get overlooked “are things that aren’t very big at all, but they’re actually huge.” Like instances where the school district will facilitate the distribution of gifts or fun swag to students across its schools, OBR is overlooked more often than not, which can be an ultimately harmful pattern for its students to witness and experience, especially those with trauma from a previous educational environment where they may have felt marginalized or overlooked.

On top of that, OBR’s funding is based on the number of students enrolled each month. By contrast, Hawk explains, “Charter schools, for example, get paid for the year based on their enrollment in September, and they can build their entire budget off that lump sum.” OBR’s funding, however, is “paid monthly based on enrollment for at least 10 days of that month,” according to Hawk. The problem is OBR has a rolling enrollment, which means that any given month, enrollment could fall short of ten. Basically, even if OBR served nine students the entire month, it’s not enough to receive funding for any of them, regardless of the services still being rendered, work still being done, benchmarks still being met; the work doesn’t stop in that case, it just goes unfunded.

All in all, the greatest challenge to the work of schools in the Opportunity Network is also the most surprising: a lack of visibility in the very system they serve. 

Students can connect with the Opportunity Network through the Re-Engagement Center, which assesses their interests and needs and works with them to find placement in an Opportunity Network School that fits them, where the student can find opportunities to thrive like the students at YES and OBR. The problem, say Paprocki and Hawk, is that most people have no idea that it’s even there as an option. 

“The traditional schools don’t even know we exist”, Hawk says, “and for us, our students are coming from there. So, a lot of times we have to build relationships with the college and career departments in those schools to say, ‘Who do you have who is over-aged and under-credited and maybe not attending?’ To try to get our name out there so that they know there’s another place, so the kids don’t have to drop out.”

Future of opportunity

For those challenges, community engagement and involvement could present a solution over time. Dr. David Rivoire is principal at YES, and he says he’d previously struggled with engagement and involvement among parents, community members, and partners, but he recently brought on Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhoods (PHENND) Fellow Taya Brown as Student and Family Engagement Coordinator to positive results.

“Taya has really helped me – something I’ve really struggled with since I’ve been here is to get outside community members and parents and people to come into our school advisory council.” Since the last meeting in September, Dr. Rivoire says, those groups have been increasingly represented.

The Opportunity Network schools model inclusivity by their very existence. It’s clear by all accounts that intentional design of inclusive education models that meet students where their circumstances and abilities are, work at their own pace, make space for the entirety of a student’s personhood, and support pathways toward healing have a demonstrably positive impact on student – and community – outcomes across every dimension. The students at YES and OBR all report being stronger, more empowered and motivated people under the support and the care they receive from their schools. Though they are often under resourced by virtue of their underrepresentation in the school system at large, community members can help increase awareness of and involvement with the Opportunity Network and its mission, especially among the students and families in Philadelphia who would be best served by them. Visit the Re-Engagement Center on the Philadelphia School District website to learn more.