Goodwill Industries of Arkansas is bringing a first-of-its-kind adult high school to the state.
With approval from the state Board of Education and Little Rock, Goodwill is renovating space in a 58,700-square-foot, multiuse warehouse off Interstate 30 to make room for the new school. The facility is at 7400 Scott Hamilton Drive.
Excel Center will be a public charter school, but it won't receive any state funding. It is for people ages 19 and older who never received high school diplomas. It is not a General Educational Development course, meaning its graduates will receive high school diplomas rather than GED certificates.
"The model we are using comes from the Indianapolis Goodwill," said Brian Itzkowitz, president and chief executive officer of Goodwill Industries of Arkansas. "They have had tremendous success with people entering what's basically a two-year program. There's a $9,000 per-year difference in [graduates'] income after they go through it. It's really a life-changing thing, and we are really proud of it."
The first participants will begin classes in July or August. Orientation will begin before that. There are plans to serve between 100 and 125 students in the first year. Anyone interested in more information can email Excel@GoodwillAR.org to learn when and how to apply.
"The word 'charter' can be a four letter word sometimes," Itzkowitz joked. "We actually had the law changed to allow for this ... because we believe this is mission critical to the citizens. We are funding this. The Goodwill board is looking to fund this for three years. We're looking at a $1 million-per-year spend for us."
Goodwill is partnering with Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock, so participants will not only graduate with high school diplomas, but also with college credits if they choose. The program will also teach various trades.
Fourteen staff members will operate the center. There will be six instructors, a special-education teacher, and a director of education who will serve as a principal of sorts.
The center will operate five 8-week terms each school year.
"Because most adults can't dedicate four years to earning their high school diploma, we have created a model where we will condense a year's worth of work into eight or 16 weeks, depending upon the course and its requirements," Itzkowitz said.
Rick Watson, Goodwill Arkansas' re-entry service manager, said participants in his re-entry classes who have heard about the new school are excited about the possibility it offers.
"For the people we serve in our re-entry program, every little step goes a long ways. Them getting to receive a high school diploma and have their family witness it -- that's a huge step," Watson said. "Our recidivism rate in our program is less than 10 percent. ... This program has changed the lives of a lot of people.
"Our placement rate has been 90 percent. The biggest thing about our program is we recognize that people change people, and we put people in [there] that have the passion and knowledge to be able to change lives."
In addition to attention from instructors, each Excel Center student will be assigned a life coach. That coach will help with scheduling and graduation planning, set up tutoring and help remove any barriers in the student's life that might affect his schooling.
"This includes identifying students who may benefit from transportation assistance or child care, both provided by The Excel Center, free of cost to our students," Itzkowitz said.
Excel Centers began with the Indiana Goodwill company in 2010. The program has since expanded to Washington, D.C.; Texas and Tennessee. The closest to Little Rock is located in Memphis.
A promotional video posted on YouTube about the centers shows graduates of all ages at a graduation ceremony, complete with caps and gowns.
Davon Patterson, who was hired at Aero Industries after getting his diploma through the program, spoke in the video about the type of students to which the program appeals.
"It's not that easy to just come out and say, 'I'm going to get a job.' I mean, your past life -- or not only that, things come up in your life where you have to stop going to school," he said. "You not going to school can stop a lot of things from happening. Goodwill helped us with gas, bills, schooling. Free school at that. It's hard to find a school that will give you free education and trade [training] also."
NW News on 01/30/2017