This past summer, ESD 105 partnered up with the Yakima School District and its Stanton Academy in a two-month project that resulted in 75 youths reengaging back into school programs, with 50 of those enrolling at the Stanton alternative school. Two members of the ESD 105 education advocates team along with the ESD’s migrant out of school youth coordinator worked from Yakima’s dropout list and set up home visits as well as phone calls during the day and evenings to contact young people who had stopped attending school.
The project originated with initial discussions in March involving Stanton staff and Yakima School District administrators, then active work began in July to contact former students ranging in age from 16 to 21 years old. The school reengagement effort was one that had not been done previously at such a large scale by the ESD 105 staff , and the partnership with Yakima’s school staff resulted in incredible results with students who had given up on education.
