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The Lehman Alternative Community School Offers Students a Positive Education |
Photo © Elizabeth Bauchner
A performance in the new amphitheater
A performance in the new amphitheater
"I like going to ACS better than summer vacation," says student, Jordan Cosentini-Jensen. "The best thing about ACS is that everyone fits in. People are friends with all different kinds of people, and everyone knows everyone."
Located in Ithaca, New York, the Lehman Alternative Community School (LACS) commonly known as ACS offers middle and high school students a unique education based on the notion that schools should be democratic and that students are active participants in their own education.
Founded over thirty years ago as a public alternative junior high school, LACS has evolved into a thriving public middle and high school community. While LACS covers the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, students also learn about government and community involvement through active participation in school meetings, committee work and volunteer work within the Ithaca community. Students graduate high school by meeting certain standards of classroom participation, community service, career exploration and completing a senior project for display at graduation, called "graduation by exhibition." Teachers evaluate student work through narrative assessments rather than letter grades. Students also work on committees at the school, such as the Green Thumb Committee (students who keep the school gardens weeded), the Arts Café Committee (students who work in the cafeteria), and the Alternative Community Court (students and staff who hold a court for kids who get in trouble).
Really Rosie FinaleLACS prides itself on creating a community within the school through "family groups" - mixed age groups of 14-18 students that meet twice a week with a staff member to help each other with homework, plan outings and to socialize. Additionally, each family group raises $115 for school trips, held in May for four days. Trips can be anywhere from hiking in the Adirondacks to painting murals to the French or Spanish trip for students in high school who have completed at least two years of foreign language studies. Students who work in the café go to the Caribbean for ten days.
An important aspect of the school community is the All School Meeting (ASM), held once a week in the gymnasium. Staff or students can make proposals for school change, and then the Agenda Committee chooses what to discuss at each ASM. Proposals are often voted on during an ASM. Proposals can be about anything, from a mural being painted in the hallway to whether or not the school should continue family groups. ASMs provide each student and staff member with a voice and a vote, helping to fulfill the ideal that schools should be democratic.
This September, LACS has a new principal, Joe Greenberg, who recently moved to Ithaca from Vermont. Dave Lehman, the founding principal of the school, is retiring after 30 years to spend more time with his family.
Lehman Alternative Community School
www.icsd.k12.ny.us/acs
(607) 274-2183
Elizabeth Bauchner is a freelance writer and LACS parent. Briana Martini, Elizabeth's daughter, is entering 8th grade at LACS.
Located in Ithaca, New York, the Lehman Alternative Community School (LACS) commonly known as ACS offers middle and high school students a unique education based on the notion that schools should be democratic and that students are active participants in their own education.
Founded over thirty years ago as a public alternative junior high school, LACS has evolved into a thriving public middle and high school community. While LACS covers the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, students also learn about government and community involvement through active participation in school meetings, committee work and volunteer work within the Ithaca community. Students graduate high school by meeting certain standards of classroom participation, community service, career exploration and completing a senior project for display at graduation, called "graduation by exhibition." Teachers evaluate student work through narrative assessments rather than letter grades. Students also work on committees at the school, such as the Green Thumb Committee (students who keep the school gardens weeded), the Arts Café Committee (students who work in the cafeteria), and the Alternative Community Court (students and staff who hold a court for kids who get in trouble).
Really Rosie FinaleLACS prides itself on creating a community within the school through "family groups" - mixed age groups of 14-18 students that meet twice a week with a staff member to help each other with homework, plan outings and to socialize. Additionally, each family group raises $115 for school trips, held in May for four days. Trips can be anywhere from hiking in the Adirondacks to painting murals to the French or Spanish trip for students in high school who have completed at least two years of foreign language studies. Students who work in the café go to the Caribbean for ten days.
An important aspect of the school community is the All School Meeting (ASM), held once a week in the gymnasium. Staff or students can make proposals for school change, and then the Agenda Committee chooses what to discuss at each ASM. Proposals are often voted on during an ASM. Proposals can be about anything, from a mural being painted in the hallway to whether or not the school should continue family groups. ASMs provide each student and staff member with a voice and a vote, helping to fulfill the ideal that schools should be democratic.
This September, LACS has a new principal, Joe Greenberg, who recently moved to Ithaca from Vermont. Dave Lehman, the founding principal of the school, is retiring after 30 years to spend more time with his family.
Lehman Alternative Community School
www.icsd.k12.ny.us/acs
(607) 274-2183
Elizabeth Bauchner is a freelance writer and LACS parent. Briana Martini, Elizabeth's daughter, is entering 8th grade at LACS.
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