Hope Leadership Academy
Some of our wonderful HOPE students working diligently
In every Buffalo middle school, there is a handful of severely at-risk students that falls through the cracks. There are several reasons: overage students with severe academic failure, truancy, and/or extreme emotional issues and behavioral problems resulting in chronic suspensions. It is challenging for such a large system to provide the resources, on an individualized level and with the necessary intensity, for students with this degree of need. In many Buffalo high schools, the graduation rate hovers around 50%, and we know that most students who are going to drop out will do so after 9th grade. Hope Leadership Academy is a private alternative school, designed to educate effectively the most highly at-risk 7th – 10th graders in Buffalo. Its purpose is to intervene and stabilize these students during their most vulnerable years, then transition them back into the Buffalo Public School system for 11th and 12th grade with consultant services. Its unique features that specifically target the needs of at-risk adolescents include:
- Small class sizes (capped at 12)
- Family atmosphere, individual attention
- 45 minutes mandatory, individual counseling every other week
- 45 minutes 1:1 academic intervention in math and reading weekly
- Family-style lunch
- Adults sit with students around table to develop social skills and build relationships
- Discipline system specially tailored to the target population
- Parents enter into contract of expectations in order for students to enroll
- Christian character education daily
- Physical education daily
- Half-days for students every other Friday to allow for intensive staff development
- Mandatory family counseling with parents once a month
- Attendance accountability
Download a pdf of our Push Pull Factor Chart (53kb) for more information from Hope Leadership Academy.
