Fort Mill School District to open new alternative school Oak Grove Academy this fall.
A new school campus will open this fall in Fort Mill to serve students in a way traditional schools often don’t.
Oak Grove Academy is an alternative school concept that the Fort Mill School District hasn’t had in more than a decade.
“The essence of the new direction of the alternative program lies in its ability to provide true second chances for our students who may have faced difficult and turbulent circumstances in their lives,” said academy coordinator Daniel Beels.
Districts often have alternative schools for students who for various reasons struggle in traditional classroom settings. There are the Blue Eagle Academy in Clover, York One Academy in York and multiple alternative programs in Rock Hill.
In 2008, Fort Mill Academy was an alternative school that also had adult education at the former Banks Street school property, which was torn down for housing. Great Recession budget cuts in 2009 closed the academy.
“We relocated it to each individual campus at the high school, and we had one location for the four middle schools we were serving at that time,” said Grey Young, assistant superintendent for student services. “So, for the past 14 years this is how we’ve served our alternative students.”
District staff looked at other models statewide. They determined a need for a single location. The district owns property between Nation Ford High School and Sugar Creek Elementary. The district got a modular building from The Citadel that will allow for full-day instruction of up to 80 students.
Oak Grove Academy will be fully staffed with its own teachers plus a counselor, nurse and security personnel. The new site should open in October and transition from Banks Trail Middle School, where it has been in recent years.
Young said the new school will serve a variety of students, with the goal of improvement as students to the point they can return to a traditional school setting.
“Some are there for behavior reasons,” Young said. “Some are there for academics. Some are there for attendance. Some are there because that’s where they need to be. It’s a better learning environment for them at the time.”
Beels said there can be a stigma associated with alternative programs “as a place for troublemakers” but the separate campus and rebrand process in Fort Mill is about improving education for students. With full-day instruction, high school students won’t have to drop a credit to be in the program. Middle school students can continue with electives.
There will be online and in-person instruction. The academy will have credit recovery and acceleration tracks. It will feature career, guidance and mental health counseling.
“One size does not fit all when it comes to education,” Beels said.
Fort Mill Schools Superintendent Chuck Epps said the move to one site and rebrand will still be considered a program rather than a school. It’s an important distinction for state test scores and other records where students still will be linked to their home schools in the district.
The district plans to open the new site on or close to Oct. 1.
