High school’s 'Fresh Start' support class halved failed courses in pilot, principal says

High school Principal Phil told the board that a small, data‑driven support class piloted for at‑risk freshmen sharply reduced the number of failed courses and will be expanded this spring.

Phil presented a before‑and‑after snapshot of a 15‑student winter pilot and said the class raised grades across the group. "We went from 32 classes failed in the first term to 16. We cut it in half," he said, attributing the improvement to concentrated adult support, daily academic structure and individualized attention.

The program — branded "Fresh Start" — will invite 49 incoming students identified by attendance, grades and behavior data to an orientation and support class beginning in May. Phil said families will receive mailed invitations and that the effort is opt‑out: "It's an opt out program. So if they don't want their kid in it, they can opt it out. Otherwise, those kids have been opted in." He described a community invitation that will include a spaghetti dinner and an opt‑out process for families who decline participation.

Phil said the support class is one element of a broader high school strategy that includes advisory time, targeted teacher outreach (handwritten invitations to extra teacher time), final‑exam weeks and a focus on keeping freshmen on track for graduation. He also plans to distribute a staff reading of The Make It or Break It: Solving the Dropout Crisis One Ninth Grader at a Time to help staff align practices.

Board members praised the pilot’s early results and discussed the resource implications of scaling small‑group, high‑touch interventions across a larger cohort.

Phil said the district will monitor outcomes and use summer credit retrieval and targeted interventions to help students who remain off track.