Youth Study Center School

In the fall of 2016, The Center for Educational Excellence in Alternative Settings opened a new school inside of the New Orleans Youth Study Center, a juvenile detention center. In reaching its goal of creating a “relevant, student-focused curriculum,” using “technology and blended learning,” and “extend[ing] school beyond the classroom,” CEEAS organizes different curricula for students in short-term care, students in long-term care pursuing high school degrees, and students in long-term care for whom pursuing the high school equivalency test is more appropriate. Curriculum is “chunked” into short modular and thematic units, allowing for quick student integration into classroom life and frequent feedback for students. The curriculum aims to: be aligned to state standards, employ technology and blended learning, and rely on a balanced literacy approach that includes extra time for reading and literacy.

CEEAS offers “academic, athletic, and creative enrichment activities [that] will extend into the afternoons and evenings, in conjunction with critical pod-based programming initiatives.”  An enrichment activity and volunteer coordinator will organize activities for students by partnering with outside organizations.