When forced to shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools and teachers everywhere had to get creative in order to teach their students. What came out of this necessity was a new understanding of all the different ways in which students can be taught, and all the different ways students learn. While many students can thrive and do well in a traditional schooling environment, others may need or desire a different approach. For District 21 (D21) in The Dalles, this is where Innovations Academy comes in.
Innovations Academy is a new multi-faceted alternative education program recently adopted by North Wasco County School District 21 (NWCSD). Led by Kimberly Cutting Tyskiewicz, D21’s new director of educational success and innovative programing, beginning next school year, the program will offer six different educational pathways to serve as alternative educational options for D21 students.
The launching of the program follows the December 2021 closure of the Riverbend Community School charter agreement. According to Superintendent Carolyn Bernal in the Dec. 16 NWCSD school board meeting, the decision to end the charter followed the departure of key staff, as well as an apparent lack of long term financial viability. The decision was made in mutual agreement between Riverbend Community School board and NWCSD School Board, with the goal of allowing Riverbend students to continue schooling uninterrupted for the remainder of the 2021-22 school year.
Following the charter’s closure, Bernal created the position of director of educational success and innovative programing, to allow the district to hire an individual to develop an alternative educational programing for D21. “I recognize that comprehensive schooling isn’t necessarily for all learners, and we really need to be thinking outside of the box and how we begin to build other programs that are good for all kids, and for all learners,” said Bernal in the December 16 regular school board meeting. “What is going on at Riverbend with the project-based learning with some incredible stuff … I want to see that kind of programming continue in our district.”
Tyskiewicz was officially hired to the position in March. Fully bilingual, Tyskiewicz has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and integrated studies, as well as a Masters of Education from Western Oregon University, a degree in educational administration from Concordia University, and administration degrees from Willamette and George Fox universities, according to a Jan 30 district press release. With a long history in education, Tyskiewicz served Lebanon Community School district as Spanish teacher and then as administrator. According to the press release, she most recently served as principal for Alsea Online, a virtual k-12 program. Tyskiewicz had moved to Goldendale with her husband to be with family when she learned about the Innovative programing position.
“I really wanted to get back into public school again, and be in person again,” said Tyskiewicz. “I was thinking like a substitute job at first … I figured it was mid-year, there’s not much out there, and I saw this position posted,” she said, “and it was funny, because when I looked at the description, my husband goes, ‘It’s like they wrote it for you,’ because it really was like all of the components of what I do online, in person.”
Besides Innovations Academy, Tyskiewicz is also in charge of the Youth Corrections Program at NORCOR.
According to Tyskiewicz, her philosophy when it comes to the program is to start conversations and gain feedback from everyone involved, be it a student, teacher or other staff, in order to problem solve and create a program that works for everyone. “I’m a big consensus model person … so if somebody says, ‘We’ll you can’t to that,’ how could we? How can we? How?” said Tyskiewciz, “How do you learn? How do they teach? How do we get together? How do we communicate? How can we do this better? ... Let’s have that conversation. So I spend a lot of time trying to get feedback from people.”
Pathways
While no longer a separate charter school, Riverbend Community School will continue to be a part of alternative education in D21, re-incorporated as a pathway available through Innovations Academy. A project-based curriculum, Riverbend students “actively engage in real-world problems, challenges, and hands-on projects,” according to a District 21 Innovations Academy press release. The curriculum is both STEM and Career and Technical Education (CTE) focused, but also offers courses in subjects such as narrative and creative writing, journalism, and forensics. According to a pathway promotional flier, students exhibit what they learn to the community and their family through “presentations of their work.” Classes most recently took place at Columbia Gorge Community College, but their location for next school year is currently yet to be decided.
Other facets of the Innovations Academy include “Liberal Arts,” and “The Guild.” Available to grades 6-12, these are general education pathways that align with course work for Columbia Gorge Community College (CGCC). A hybrid model learning curriculum, students receive instruction both virtually and in-person at the Alternative Learning Center located at the Wahtonka High school campus, before taking course work at Columbia Gorge Community College in their final year. The Liberal Arts pathway will set the groundwork for students to earn an Associate of Arts Oregon transfer degree, which can be transferred to any four-year Oregon university. The Guild is a trade-focused pathway that lays the groundwork for an Associate of Applied Science at CGCC or any trade-based certificate or program.
Mastery, Autonomy, Purpose (MAP) Virtual, formerly known as North Wasco Virtual academy, is a 100% virtual learning pathway available to students K-12. An asynchronous model of learning, students work at a pace that is individual to their needs, but will have scheduled live sessions for teacher instruction and assistance, as well as activities such as clubs, recess, and assemblies for socialization with other MAP virtual students.
The fifth pathway is available to students who are considered “off-track” for graduation. Workforce Ready is a curriculum for students between the ages of 16-21 who want to earn a high school diploma or complete GED requirements, but were met with barriers in the course of their learning, or did not find success through traditional schooling. After an assessment of credits already earned and what is still needed, students can start gaining credits for graduation or completion through non-traditional methods such as work experience credit, job shadows, internships, GED prep classes, courses taken at CGCC, and even specialization credits for what they do at home or work.
Tyskiewicz noted that, while she was not able to fully implement the specialization credit process in her previous program, students who did perform specialization projects in the past included that of building a 1957 Chevy truck, and starting a business of breeding and selling rabbits. “What we do with that is not only do you get the credit (for graduation), but I will give you a certificate of specialization that is an award that you can put on a resume of saying that you did this,” said Tyskiewicz, “So my goal is that kids see that life is school and school is life, and this is helping them do that.”
A facet offered through Workforce Ready includes advisory or “Adulting Classes,” which can help give students skills such as budgeting and living on their own. According to a promotional flier, the pathway also offers help with job preparation and access to mentorships to such as job shadows or internships, with the pathway’s overall goal being to get students to ready to enter into the workforce immediately after graduation.
Similarly, a component throughout Innovations Academy includes the “House” advisory system, in which students, based on their grade, receive advisory time for skills including social emotional learning, money matters, home and life skills, and career related learning standards. “The house is designed to be the place where we do all those soft skills,” said Tyskiewicz. “We figure out who we are, we stop allowing other people to label us and we label ourselves, and we learn how to interact appropriately with people we disagree with, and we learn how to express our positions and advocate for ourselves. Meanwhile, we’re also learning that we need to put money way for retirement.”
Home School-High School Dual Credit diploma program is the final pathway offered, which would allow homeschool students who don’t desire to enter into the public school system but would like to earn a high school diploma to take classes in order to do so. Students who become part of the program must be 16 years of age and would have had to have been home schooled for a full year before they would be allowed to enter, but could choose either take on a two or three year path to earn a diploma, with the three year path also setting the groundwork for an associate’s degree, according to Tyskiewicz. “This is not designed to replace what we do here in the district, it’s meant for homeschool families that have been in homeschool to allow them opportunities to take classes.”
Classes for the 2022-23 school year starts Aug. 30. More information about Innovations Academy can be found on the district website, or by email. “(It is) because not everybody fits the same mold,” said Tyskiewicz when asked why alternative learning options are important in a public school district. “Because not everybody learns the same way. Because everybody’s life story is different … because we’re all individuals.
“I feel connected to this community, I feel a part of this community, I consider this my community where I shop, where I interact. I’m looking forward to it being my community when I retire,” said Tyskiewicz about The Dalles. “I like it here. I love these kids, and I believe that every student deserves an excellent education, so I’m going to try and provide that.”
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