As the school year drew to a close last June, Vashon Youth & Family Services (VYFS) began to hear from a handful of teenage girls who were already dreading their return to high school in the fall.
“It was the last week of school and they were already stressed and worried about going back,” said Marianne Rose, clinical director for the HART (Holistic Approaches to Recovery Treatment) program at VYFS.
This year, girls on Vashon who struggle to thrive in the traditional high school setting have another option: an alternative school put on by VYFS that aims to give girls support in a wide variety of areas, not just academics.
“We thought there had to be some other way. There’s got to be something more positive to allow some more stability for the girls to really flourish,” said Rose, who spearheaded HART Academy with VYFS director Ken Maaz.
Though HART itself is an substance abuse treatment program, Maaz said girls eligible to take part in HART Academy could struggle in high school for a variety of reasons. What HART students have in common, he said, is a desire to work independently outside of a classroom and a need for more overall support, be it academic help, life skills lessons or counseling.
“These aren’t problem kids,” Maaz emphasized. “The traditional school setting was not a good fit for them, and the alternatives available were not a good fit for them.”
The eight students at HART Academy this year are technically enrolled in FamilyLink — the school district’s homeschool program — and their parents pay $250 a month in tuition.
“(The parents) can’t provide the ongoing supervision and assistance that other kids in FamilyLink would get,” Maaz said. “Essentially we’re stepping in and providing that for those families.”
One high school junior who is attending HART Academy this year said she’s known since middle school that she had trouble learning in a traditional classroom setting. Some classes moved too quickly for her, others not quickly enough, and she struggled to get the help she needed.
“It was a hard environment for me to learn in,” she said. “Class sizes weren’t even necessarily that large, but it was hard for me to focus.”
At HART Academy, students design their own coursework — a mix of graduation requirements and elective classes — with help from Yve Susskind. Susskind founded FamilyLink and oversees the HART students’ academic progress during work time at the the VYFS building, giving them help when they need it.
“It’s an atmosphere where they feel less stress and less anxiety,” Maaz said, “and where they can receive more individual attention.”
Rose said the girls who come to HART are in need of a more holistic education than traditional high school can provide. During their weekly schedule the students will learn about healthy lifestyle choices and work on life skills and goal setting. They’ll be required to log the time they spend exercising, for example, and keep a journal as part of their spiritual development. Rose said the girls already enjoy taking mid-morning breaks to make protein smoothies.
“This came out of knowing enough teenage girls especially who were not given enough soil and water to grow. … They’re adding in some things to their life that would help them be more themselves,” she said. “They can become more of their best selves.”
The HART Academy students will also attend a weekly support group, Rose said, and some will get individualized therapy from a VYFS counselor. The agency is prepared to counsel teen girls on a wide variety of issues, including substance abuse, relationships and emotional health.
So far, the HART junior says she enjoys being able to work at her own pace and feels like she has support when she needs it. She’s also excited to be able to study astronomy as an elective. She continues to take drama classes at the high school and will participate in school plays.
“It’s definitely one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” she said.
HART Academy is a pilot program, Rose said, and VYFS will monitor the girls’ progress. So far though, she said, she’s gotten nothing but positive feedback from the students.
“There’s a feeling of energy behind it that has been so exhilarating, and the girls look relieved and happy,” she said.
Rose and Maaz are still planning, too. They hope to take the girls on field trips, have some students do job shadows and bring in volunteer tutors for tough subjects.
If this year goes well, they say, they’ll consider creating a similar program for boys, something that’s already been requested.
“There’s a different sense of possibility (at HART),” Rose said, “They’re not stuck. That’s our goal with any client: You’re not trapped; you always have a choice in the situation.”
There are a couple open spots at HART Academy, but students must already be enrolled in FamilyLink or StudentLink to join the program now. For more information, contact Marianne Rose at 463-5511, ext. 232.
