Students head to the mall -- for school

Yolo County educators have a plan to stop troubled students from cutting school and heading to the mall.

They're opening a school at the mall.

The Einstein Education Center will open Aug. 22 at County Fair Mall in Woodland, becoming one of three alternative high schools in California to pilot the Diploma Plus model.

The new mall-school provides a second chance for Yolo County students who are failing in traditional learning environments.

"I always had trouble in school," said 16-year-old Dalton Zink, who was diagnosed at age 6 with attention deficit disorder.

During a recent visit to the school next to Gottschalks department store, Zink and his mother chatted with teachers to learn more about the program.

"This school lets you go at your own pace if you're a slow learner or if you learn quickly," Zink said.

The Diploma Plus model -- recently adapted to California educational standards -- has been implemented at 15 schools on the East Coast. It allows teachers to abandon the traditional grading system. Students are promoted at their rate of learning, not by the amount of time spent in class. Along with core subjects, internships and college courses are part of the curriculum.

Linda Christopher-Miles, principal of the new Yolo County campus, said the goal is to help about 2,000 students in the county who have dropped out of school and others who are failing. The center will open with about 150 students, age 14 to 19, who applied for the program and met criteria, she said.

"Some kids get to that point where they do the math and the counselor sits them down and says, 'You're not going to make it,' " Christopher-Miles said. "We offer them hope without judgment of the past."

The Yolo County Office of Education is sponsoring Einstein Education Center. The center will receive $300,000 in funding during the first three years from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, school officials said.

Other donations from the community helped to remodel the site and provide furnishings. The school is seeking additional donations for program materials, high-tech learning tools, bus passes and student transportation.

The 6,000-square-foot school includes computer work stations and areas for small study groups. A lecture room will serve classes limited to 25 students.

Karina Montes 17, said she is excited to attend a smaller school after trying River City, McClatchy and Yolo high schools.

"Those schools are really packed, and you don't get the attention that you need," Montes said, adding that her younger sister, Teresa Montes, also will attend Einstein Education Center this fall. "I'm looking forward to graduating and working with kids in a hospital or day care," she said.

The Diploma Plus model was created in 1996 by the Commonwealth Corp., which works to improve skill development of youths and adults.

Lessons are personalized to better track student progress through three stages: Foundation Level, Presentation Level and Plus Phase. There are requirements to connect what students learn to activities outside the classroom.

The model is a response to the high dropout rate among minorities in urban settings, a low number of vulnerable youths entering and completing college and an inadequate supply of alternatives to traditional high schools, according to Commonwealth Corp.

Diploma Plus has grown from a 100-student pilot program at two sites in Boston to serving 1,500 students a year at 15 sites across Massachusetts, New York, Hartford, Conn. and Providence, R.I.

The organization, New Ways to Work, has helped to bring Diploma Plus to California.

"Were taking the model and really honing it to fit California," said Akili Moses Israel, New Ways to Work director of education initiative.

In addition to the Yolo County school, Diploma Plus will be implemented this fall at Edward C. Merlo Institute of Environmental Technology in Stockton and Rhythms of the Village Charter School in Pasadena.

Four additional Diploma Plus schools will open over the next two years in California, depending on the success of the pilot schools, Israel said.

Christopher-Miles said she is optimistic about the future of Diploma Plus in Yolo County.

"It all started with the location," Christopher-Miles said, explaining that County Fair Mall was a popular choice as a site because Yolo buses stop there each morning. "We're not the first- ever school in a mall, but we're the first in Yolo County and maybe the region."

Students are also drawn to the school because of opportunities for internships at the mall and elsewhere, said Christopher-Miles.

Einstein Education Center has several community partners to support its mission, including the Yolo County Department of Employment and Social Services.

About the writer:

• The Bee's Lakiesha McGhee can be reached at (916) 321-1121 or lmcghee@sacbee.com.