It’s a sunny July afternoon and Donnie Ellis is quietly working at a computer in Smyrna High School. He’s not on MySpace, nor is he playing a game. Ellis is listening to a lecture on integrated algebra and geometry.

Ellis is enrolled in the school’s Credit Recovery Program, a computer-based curriculum that will allow him to make up one class and graduate in July.

“I needed a math credit I didn’t know about,” said Ellis, who was one credit shy of graduating with his class in May. “It gives me a second chance.”

The Credit Recovery Program, which was offered for the first time this past year, enabled 20 students to don their caps and gowns in June.

“You have to have failed a class or be failing a class,” said Credit Recovery Teacher Don Smith. “It’s not a program to get ahead.”

The entire curriculum is online, and allows students to work independently, either in school or at home. Students watch lectures and complete homework and writing assignments.

“They can do everything at home except a quiz or a test, because that has to be proctored by a teacher,” Smith said.

Students can work at their own pace, sometimes skipping a unit by passing a pre-quiz, or repeating one to watch a lecture a second or third time.

“No one says you have to get it the first time,” said Smyrna School District Superintendent Debbie Wicks. “You have plenty of time to review it and go over it again.”

The online medium is appealing to many students, who can spend hours at the computer but are hard-pressed to focus in class.

“They’re wired a little differently today, these kids,” said Smyrna High principal Tony Soligo. “Students spend a lot of time on the computer, and they’re very technologically savvy. And they can do so without distraction. It’s good for them to use technology, because that’s what the workforce is going to demand from them.”

Although ideal for many, the lack of a typical classroom setting does not work for everyone, Smith cautions.

“Some students don’t do well without that structure,” Smith said. “They have to manage their time. They’re in control of their future.”

Program saves time, helps graduation rates

Ellis said if not for the Credit Recovery Program, he would have been forced to repeat senior year or drop out.

His teacher can relate. Smith dropped out of high school at 16, before eventually going back and getting his diploma.

“I wish they had this when I was in school,” Smith said. “I probably would have stayed in school the first time.”

Smith has since earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees, but it took him a long time and a lot of hard work, something he cautions his students about.

“Raising a family, working full-time and going to school—it’s not easy,” Smith said. “I want to help students and tell them my story. I think I relate to them more because of that.”

Smith, who has dual teaching certifications in special education and technology, offers the program during the school day and after school. Classes are offered from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and during regular school hours on Friday. Although there is no official summer program, Smith is volunteering his time to meet with students at Smyrna High.

“I’m dedicated to getting them to be successful,” Smith said.  “I’m committed to teaching—and to me, if you’re committed, you make yourself available.”

Students come to the program through a teacher, guidance counselor or principal recommendation or by self-referral. Seniors are admitted first; underclassmen are admitted as space permits.

Classes offered so far are American literature, British literature, geography, world history, geometry, algebra II, integrated algebra/geometry II, earth science, and chemistry.

The program has been established and paid for through a state grant for improvement in special education, Soligo said.

The grant, which is applied largely toward start up costs associated with purchasing the curriculum, will eventually run out, but Soligo said the cost to maintain the program is minimal. He even hopes to expand to offer more classes and more site licenses, he said. The school currently has 15 licenses, which means 15 students can be logged into the program at any given time.

“Students today are learning very differently today,” Soligo said. “I think it’s a necessary program.”