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Light Rain Lynbrook public schools has its first ever graduate from their non-traditional education program. Who is this graduate? And what does this program entail?
Lynbrook’s alternative high school program, the Owl Success Academy, reached a milestone on Feb. 8 when Matthew LaVerda became the program’s first graduate.
Board members and school faculty celebrated LaVerda’s achievement at the Feb. 8 meeting. The proud graduate shook hands with every board member as he received his diploma.
Addressing the board, LaVerda thanked them and said he hoped the program would live on to create more graduates like him.
“I want to say thank you because I’m honored and flabbergasted to stand in front of you and accept this,” LaVerda said.
The program, he added, was “amazing,” and he wished it had started sooner.
“I couldn’t be prouder of him,” Lynbrook High School Principal Matthew Sarosy said. “And I am also very proud that this opportunity was provided to Matthew, and he took full advantage of it.” Sarosy added that graduating from the program gives LaVerda more options and different paths to take in the future.
“Now that he has a high school diploma, he’ll have more opportunities, as he was able to successfully complete this program,” Sarosy said.
These new opportunities showed up immediately as Sarosy informed LaVerda that SUNY Empire State College extended an acceptance to him for its online collegiate program.
Sarosy said there have been talks about implementing an alternative educational program, but the pandemic helped make it a reality. “After coming out of the pandemic, we realized that students who struggle in a traditional environment, needed the additional option to learn in a non-traditional way,” Sarosy said.
He noted another educational program was needed as students came out of the pandemic. He ensured the program became a reality last spring when the planning became implementation.
“This is its first year,” Sarosy said. “We opened the academy this September.” The program is operating within the Lynbrook High School and Sarosy calls it a “school within a school.”
Lynbrook High School works with the Board of Cooperative Educational Services program in cooperation with the Owl Success Academy.
“There is a dedicated space in the building that was just totally refurbished,” Sarosy said. “And the students spend their day in that room and rather than switching classes like a traditional schedule. They use BOCES online learning to complete their coursework, and we provide the necessary support to help those students do well in the courses.
“The students learn in the building, at a physical location, but their specific coursework takes place on their tablets,” Sarosy said.
Lynbrook High School teachers check in with the BOCES students daily to follow their progress, assignments and the pace of their work.
The program is available for students who qualify from grades 11 and 12. The Lynbrook High School guidance and support staff decides who joins the program.
Those chosen for the program are “students who are motivated and struggle in a traditional environment,” according to Sarosy.
There are nine students in the program.
“That’s the number that we’re comfortable with,” Sarosy said.
With the success of the program this year, Sarosy plans on continuing it next year and he hopes that it will become a staple at Lynbrook High School.
