Five Keys Adult School         Five Keys Independence High School

GOALS

INCREASE EDUCATION LEVELS
Many of our students had negative, unsuccessful high school experiences. At Five Keys, teachers work with students to rekindle their desire and excitement for education. We believe this creates the internal motivation needed to achieve academic goals like earning a high school diploma or GED and moving beyond that to post-secondary opportunities.

A major objective of our program is for teachers to engage students in strategies that can be used to effectively return to society and leave the incarcerated environment forever. A formal curriculum focused on restorative justice principles makes up an integral piece of the Five Keys Charter School's mission of holistic education.


REDUCE RECIDIVISM
There is an enormous body of evidence that links recidivism with undereducated youth. A study in Virginia (Hull, Forrester, Brown, Jobe, and McCullen, 2000) tracked re-incarceration rates among offenders in Virginia over a fifteen-year period, finding that recidivism rates were 59% lower for inmates who completed prison educational programs. Further studies have suggested that recidivism decreases proportionally to the amount of education received during incarceration.

The goal of Five Keys Charter School is to immerse students in a single subject intensely for five weeks. This enables students to receive credit for required courses one at a time. The greater the education level, the lower the recidivism, even if it is done on a course by course basis.

INCREASE EMPLOYABILITY
Inmates return to crime in part because they lack basic skills to be self-sufficient and re-integrate into mainstream society. Five Keys helps inmates acquire basic academic, social, workplace readiness and vocational skills. The school has established many partnerships in the community to support students in the employment process.

LIFE-LONG LEARNERS
The school works to increase self esteem and confidence in each student's ability to succeed academically. Many of our students are unaware of their potential and do not believe that they can earn a high school diploma. The one-course-at-a-time approach with intensive preparation in each subject allows students to master standards and see immediate results. This success motivates students to continue their education until they receive their diploma even upon release from jail.

SCHOOL EXPANSION
More schools are needed to serve this important and underserved segment of our population. Beyond strengthening our program for students, in the coming years, the Five Keys Board and school staff will focus on developing a model that others can replicate. This will require efforts on several fronts including improved internal administrative systems, increased documentation of student achievement and curriculum development that will transfer our best practices into user-friendly formats for other teachers to use.

TECHNOLOGY
Our technology goal for the renewed charter term will be to ensure that each learning site has a computer Learning Center designed to:

- Provide programs remediation for auditory discrimination learning disabilities.

- Individualized academic programs for students.

- Develop special academic skills or remediate specific learning deficiencies.

- Develop computer vocational skills.

Accordingly, a comprehensive Technology Plan will be developed to include the following:

- Utilization of technologically advanced software to supplement the core curriculum and promote the practice of higher level thinking skills;

- Appropriate safeguards to ensure access to educational information only.

- Acquisition of appropriate software, hardware, and internet routing for the post incarceration site only;

- A management plan that encourages frequent access to computers;

- Course competencies in computer literacy;

- Utilization of technologically advanced software to supplement the core curriculum and promote the practice of higher level thinking skills.

Five Keys knows that technological innovations can enhance communication, foster better relationships within the academic environment and provide students with the knowledge and skills to enter or re-enter the business and social opportunities of the 21st Century. The staff is committed to improving students' technology skills.