Alternative school

This article is about an alternative school. For alternatives to traditional education, see alternative education.

File:GreatNeckVillageSchool.jpg

Great Neck Village School, an alternative school in Great Neck, New York in the United States

In education, the phrase alternative school, sometimes referred to as a minischool, or special school, is "any public or private school having a special curriculum, especially an elementary or secondary school offering a more flexible program of study than a traditional school."

Many such schools were founded in the United States in the 1970's as an alternative to mainstream or traditional classroom structure. A wide range of philosophies and teaching methods are offered by alternative schools; some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientations, while others are more ad-hoc assemblies of teachers and students dissatisfied with some aspect of mainstream or traditional education. In 2003 there were approximately 70 alternative schools in the United Kingdom. In the UK public funding is not available for alternative schools and therefore alternative schools are usually fee-paying institutions.

Sometimes, particularly in the United States, the phrase alternative school can refer to a school which practices alternative education. This is a much broader use of the term, covering all forms of non-traditional educational methods and philosophies, including school choice, independent school, homeschooling, and alternative school. However, even the narrower usage of the term may refer to a range of school type such as a school with an innovative and flexible cirriculum aimed at bright, self-motivated students; a school for students with behavioral problems; or a school with special remedial programs.

Magnet schools

Magnet schools are public alternative schools which offers innovative courses, specialized training, etc., in order to attract students from a broad urban area and thereby help to desegregate schools.

See also

• Alternative education
• Alternative high school
• Education
• Free school
• Gifted education
• Liberal arts college
• Private school
• Public school
• Special education
• Unschooling

External links

• Iowa Association of Alternative Education
• International Association for Learning Alternatives

Further reading

• Claire V. Korn, Alternative American Schools: Ideals in Action (Ithaca: SUNY Press, 1991).