St. Croix ALC

St. Croix ALC is the alternative course of action from the usual high school courses, the hallway traffic, big class sizes, and, of course, slipping through the cracks. The St. Croix ALC is a close-knit, first-name-basis, one hallway kind of place that isn't trying to pile pressure onto the students by giving excessive homework, forcing us to sit still for more than three hours at a time, and we don't feel the need to dress up everyday to impress one another. This place is judgement free.
Until you attend this facility, you won't fully understand the meaning this place holds to many of the students. Many former students are even getting concerned with the upcoming debate on the 916 program taking over the building this upcoming summer causing students who might've fallen behind that would graduate in the early to mid-summer, like me to not graduate in time for college in the fall. The smaller class sizes help students get one-on-one attention that many do not receive at the high school causing students to easily slip through unnoticed and failing.
The teachers here actually give their students the time of day to ask how the fishing trip turned, or how your crazy aunt's surgery was, they don't hesitate to move beyond small talk. Teachers and students here have relationships rarely found in traditional school systems. The ALC is a family of learners, the students and teachers find ways to surprise each other with new information and I enjoy that. We have one hallway and everyone uses it, nodding at one another or a simple "good morning" or "good afternoon" to all those you pass by. What we need to do instead of budgeting our systems, is value learning more than grades.