With the second semester begun in the Perry School District, the administration had a chance to look back on the successes of the first semester.

One particular area that was universally praised was what the District calls “The Success Center.” The program was rolled out in the fall, and involves sending middle and high school students that have been disruptive or have a hard time learning in the typical classroom environment to an alternative learning center. Middle School Principal Shaun Kruger says it didn’t take long to realize the Success Center was a keeper, no matter how they looked at it. “First of all, are the students that go to the Success Room seeing gains academically? Are we seeing gains in attendance (and) gains in behavior? And so far, overall with the 13 students we have, that is just exactly it. We are seeing gains in their overall demeanor towards going to school. They’re making gains educationally, they’re passing classes, earning some credits. Their attitude towards school and towards the instructors at the Success Room is improving. So that’s one way we can measure the success.”

High School Principal Dan Marburger follows up Kruger’s thoughts by saying the other way they’ve measured the positives of the Success Center is how the absence of a few students has impacted the schools as a whole. “If we get a kid that’s bent on causing some issues in classrooms, it doesn’t take very long for that one person to affect the whole atmosphere of the building. So we’re very cognisant of that and really want to limit that. Our biggest priority is that not one person gets to affect the learning of 24 other kids in a classroom, or in this case a whole building. So we try to get those kids different alternatives to get their education, and a very quality education, meeting their goals and their needs that they need to have met.”

To learn more about the Perry Success Center, listen to yesterday’s and today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County programs at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.