Why It Matters
FINANCIAL, COMMUNITY, DISTRICT BENEFIT
Since 50% of dropouts are unemployed and two-thirds are prison population, the fact that OFY is successful in helping tens of thousands of at-risk students return to public school or earn a high school diploma benefits the community and reduces the financial burden on the public budget. The net lifetime economic benefit to the public purse for each new high school graduate is $127,000 and the benefits are 2.5 times greater than the costs. (Teachers College, Columbia University January 2007)
Dr. James Catterall concluded the following regarding the societal benefits of students graduating from Options For Youth:
"We assess a specific program engaging a dropout recovery model based on supervised independent study. This program operates five public charter schools that enrolled a total of more than 7,000 full time equivalent students in 2007-2008. Based on annual numbers of actual graduates, the benefit-cost ratio of dropout recovery through this program is estimated to be 3 to 1. In other words, one dollar invested in this program should return $3.00 in societal benefits." (Dr. James S. Catterall, Professor, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Services, July 2008)
IN THEIR OWN WORDS - GRADUATES CLASS OF 2010
To read what our graduating students had to say click here.
TESTIMONIALS - STUDENTS
Johnathon Stevens: "This is a fantastic program that really encourages individual progress. Thank you for allowing me to have a program that worked for me."
Rebecca Geftakys: "Yes, I started to believe that my dreams were possible."
Erika Cisneros: "OFY has already given me the skills that I need for college to further my goals."
TESTIMONIALS - PARENTS
"My son developed better study habits and he no longer needed tutors. He was getting all A's and B's, and before he never even did any work."
"The OFY materials are packaged into manageable chunks-not overwhelming."
"Now she thinks she will graduate high school AND she has higher self-esteem because she is getting better grades."
"The school starts at the student's level and works up."
"Kayla graduated from the Arden school in June. Although she wasn’t behind on credits and didn’t need a lot of assistance, she was horribly bored in public school and hated going every day. Your program provided her with a system that worked for her so that she willingly finished school. I don’t know if she would have graduated had it not been for your program. Thank you!" A happy parent!
Click here to read what Harold Korpal wrote.
