School-Parent Compact
Challenger Middle and High School
School-Parent Compact
Challenger Middle and High School and the parents of the students participating in activities, services, and programs provided by the Bethel School District agree that this compact outlines how the parents, the entire school staff, and the students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership that will help children achieve the State’s high standards.
This school-parent compact is in effect during the 2023-2024 school year.
School Responsibilities
Challenger High School will:
- Provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables the participating children to meet the State’s student academic achievement standards as follows:
Challenger Middle and High School is the alternative high school for the Bethel School District. Challenger continues to expand learning opportunities for students through personalized and individualized connections with teaching staff. Our students thrive in a small group atmosphere (fewer than 18 students in classes) with an individualized education plan for each student. Challenger Middle and High School serves roughly 365 students in grades 7-12 and has 20 classroom teachers, an academic counselor, social worker and a family resource coordinator serving our students. Teachers average 16 years of teaching experience and 65 % have at least a master’s degree. All of our teachers are considered Highly Qualified to teach the courses they are teaching.
Students at Challenger take four classes at a time in 9-week terms. The lower number of classes helps students to focus on and complete classes in a shorter time frame. Students also have an advisor they meet with twice a week to provide monitoring, support and planning for life after high school. Students’ progress and attendance are also monitored monthly through a progress report process in accordance to Alternative Learning Environment laws. If students are found to be making unsatisfactory progress, extra support and interventions are used to help students become successful at Challenger.
Challenger High School serves an increasingly diverse group of students. Seventy percent of students receive free and reduced lunch. White students make up the majority of the student population (63%), followed by Hispanic (10%), students of Two or More Races (8%), Asian/Pacific Islander (7%), Black (6%), American Indian (4%), and Native Hawaiian (2%). The age structure at Challenger is weighted towards older students who are engaged in credit recapture opportunities and completing graduation requirements. Students in ninth grade compose 2% of the population, tenth grade students 4%, eleventh grade students 16%, and twelfth grade students 78% of the student body. It is the goal of the Challenger staff to help every student fulfill their graduation requirements and be career or college ready at the time of graduation.
2. Hold parent-teacher conferences (in October and March) during which this compact will be discussed as it relates to the individual child’s achievement. Specifically, those conferences will be held:
Parent/Teacher Conference Dates:
- October 25-27
- March 27-29
3. Provide parents with frequent reports on their children’s progress. Specifically, the school will provide reports as follows:
- Parents will be provided information and usernames/passwords to access their student’s grades on StudentVue/ParentVue on Synergy so they can monitor grades and attendance on a daily basis.
- Report cards will be sent home quarterly.
- Students who are not making satisfactory progress will have progress reports and notification emails sent home on a monthly basis.
- Advisors and student-support staff will contact parents of students making unsatisfactory progress on a monthly basis.
4. Provide parents with reasonable access to staff. Specifically, staff will be available for consultation with parents as follows:
Staff are available for consultations in a number of ways at Challenger:
- During planning time before and after school.
- Teachers can be reached by phone or by email.
- Parent/teacher conferences happen in October and March
- Teachers often organize staffing meetings with parents of struggling students.
- Parents can call and set up meetings with teachers as needed.
5. Provide parents opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class and to observe classroom activities, as follows:
- Parents are always welcome to observe and volunteer in their child’s classroom or at the Bethel Family Center.
Parent Responsibilities
We, as parents, will support our children’s learning in the following ways:
- Monitoring attendance and academic progress in classes.
- Ensuring that homework is completed.
- Monitoring amount of television children watch.
- Volunteering in child’s classroom.
- Participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to my child’s education.
- Promoting positive use of my child’s extracurricular time.
- Staying informed about my child’s education and communicating with the school by promptly reading all emails from the school or the school district and responding, as appropriate.
- Serving, to the extent possible, on policy advisory groups, such as being a parent representative on the school’s School Improvement Team.
Student Responsibilities
We, as students, will share the responsibility to improve our academic achievement and achieve the state’s high standards. Specifically, we will:
- Attendance: attend school as much as possible, and if I am absent I will make up my missing work.
- Commitment: commit to my education and expect that I will succeed in earning my high school diploma.
- Effort: give my best in class every day by participating in class activities and discussions, asking for help when I need it, doing my homework every day, and studying for my quizzes and tests.
- Give my parents or the adult who is responsible for my welfare all notices and information received by me from my school every day.