It started in the spring of 2007. A small group of teachers, administrators and counselors gathered at the Falcon School District 49 office to discuss the need for an alternative to the traditional school setting offered to our youth. Not much came out of the meetings that ensued over the next 18 months. However, this group did come up with the basics and certainly opened the gate to the creation of D 49’s first alternative school.In the fall of 2008, Patriot Learning Center opened and in came 180 eager but curious students. About 60 of them headed to the middle school program, 60 to the high school and 60 to the night school program. What was in store for them at this new facility? What would be the challenges, and what were the rewards? Interestingly, the teachers, faculty and administration shared the same curiosities.Each program, with the exception of night school (which had been created years earlier and had been moved from a small modular at Sand Creek High School to PLC) consists of four core teachers working in either middle school or high school. Each teacher is required to teach all levels of their subject, without the planning time a teacher usually receives. This has proven to be a challenge; however, it is also a testament to the commitment of the PLC staff. There were bumps in this road, and at times it felt as if we were riding on the steel wheels of a bus without suspension. It was not only the faculty who was challenged it was the student body as well.Many of them faced the closure of their beloved school and were forced to make a difficult choice: Accept PLC or move in another direction. I can wager that they too hit those bumps, but they too have realized their reward.With all the struggles, sacrificed weekends and lunch breaks, the challenges reaped rewards too great to measure. PLC is graduating its first class this month, and with them will leave 24 adults. Some of them will continue in the work force, some are headed to college and a few might even take a year off and enjoy their newfound but temporary freedom. A handful of them have already attended college. After all, Pikes Peak Community College shares the facilities with PLC and is right down the hall. In addition, four students were recently awarded scholarships in excess of $7,000. Just two years ago, graduation for many of these young men and women was nothing more than a figment of their imagination. Today, it is a reality. Next year, PLC will be growing. It will be adding teachers to both the middle school and high school programs, and will seek out additional business partnerships within this community. It will seek out more scholarship opportunities and will continue to expand its relationship with PPCC. There will be zero turnover after this inaugural year; all who served PLC will return for the 2009-2010 school year. The educators, administrators, paraeducators and students of PLC not only survived; they flourished.
