Ridgefield Alternative High

The alternative school was an integral part of my education . Without it I wouldn't have graduated on time in the year 2000. The teachers took the time to find the style that worked for me to learn and retain knowledge . The school is an important part of the community, and helps those that don't benefit from traditional teaching. That is the reason it worked for me , though there are a slew of ways it has helped other students. The loss of this school would be a tragedy and must not happen . I will always be eternally grateful to the teachers that made the alternative school possible. It gave me the tools i needed to get to where i wanted in life.

In a time in my life at which I was floundering for a sense of self, RAHS was there to help guide and uplift me. Through student centered learning, small community based infrastructure and the complete dedication of the staff; I was able to build a new foundation for a life time love of learning. I was given so many opportunities to find myself, my confidence and my worth in an educational setting.

I would recommend this school to anyone. I now, 12 years later, can attribute so many of my successes to the lessons, educational and otherwise that I learned at RAHS. Joan and Denise were and still are very close to me, they helped me take charge of my own gifts and change my life.

Ridgefield, without a doubt, has one of the best and most sought after school systems in the country. People often move into the town just so their children can attend school there. Ridgefield Alternative High School (RAHS) is an excellent example of how the community ensures that all children in the town have the opportunity to perform to their fullest and receive a top notch education. The main high school does a fantastic job for the average student, however those who do not fall into the “average”, those who have a need to express their individuality and those who are struggling with a less than ideal family or financial situation are not always well served by the mainstream. The Alternative High School is Ridgefield’s solution to this issue.
RAHS gives students who are underperforming the chance to step outside of the social distractions of the mainstream to find their own path. A small community size and very dedicated teachers ensures that students are not overlooked, that each child’s needs are addressed and taken care of. The students who have attended RAHS can tell you that the family like atmosphere helps to get kids through difficult situations that the main system does not have the resources to take care of. The highly individualized approach to education taken by the teachers at the alternative school ensures that each student receives the time and attention they need to maintain the high standard of education that is expected in Ridgefield. It is for this reason that RAHS is an essential part of Ridgefield’s School System, without it certain students would fall through the cracks, and a child who could serve as an excellent example of just how great the town is may end up lost.

My personal experience of RAHS started before there was an RAHS. As a freshman the combination of a rough home life and not fitting in with the affluent culture of my peers led to academic difficulties. I was not a bad student, when I was in class I did a great job of keeping up, I tested very well and on the state tests was always in the higher percentiles, I just did not show up to school much. I was approached by Joan Voss and asked if I would like to help start an alternative high school in Ridgefield. Through the end of that year and during the summer I worked with Joan to get RAHS started. With the help of Joan Voss, Denise Brown, Patrick Higgins, Carol Fuchs, and all of the fantastic students that were there in my time I was able to have a fantastic High School career and to go to Manhattanville College after I graduated. I currently work in Design and Communications, a field that I got my first tastes of from computer design programs I learned while I was at the alternative school. Without RAHS, and the support of the Ridgefield community, I know that I would have been lost in, or even from, the system, I would not have found the success and happiness that I have today.

The Alternative HIgh School was my home away from home. Actually, let me rephrase that....IT WAS MY HOME.

To hear the changes that have been made by the BOE and the RHS administration not to be mistaken with RAHS has been very sad to hear. The destruction of a school that I cherish is mind boggling. I am devastated to think that twelve years ago I GRADUATED. It is also hard to believe that the opportunity I had will not be there for other teens. Being a teen can be dreadful and the option of a life at RAHS should be there for someone who needs it. I sometimes wish Joanie and Denise could be there for forever and do what they did for me and the amazing friends I made during our high school days. I'm lucky enough to say that they've never left my life. I hope the BOE can remember why the RAHS was created and why it should stay that way. Understand that before I stepped foot into that building I didn't care about anything. I soon found the urge and passion to achieve and want to do not just for others but finally for myself. Where else will your teachers and mentors send out a search party and drag you to school whether you care or not. You can only make the grade if you're there and they made sure that on my worst days I was there. No one comes out of RAHS feeling like they're not worth it. You have a whole team rooting for you. You sure can't put a price on that. I hope to hear RAHS gets to live the way it was designed to in the first place.

I first heard about RAHS the end of my freshmen year via one of my guidance counselor's interns. She was working with the students part time and thought it would be a good fit for me. Well "good fit" was an understatement. My parents weren't together anymore, my dad was living in North Carolina, and I was with my mom. My mother was an alcoholic with severe depression. I was always the one taking care of her. Which meant putting school on the back burner. I would either not show up for school, leave early, or not know what was going on in class because I missed so many classes already.

I became friends with someone that went to RAHS and loved every second of it. That is when I decided I needed to see what it was all about. The first day I walked in I was so nervous and I had NO idea how it was going to change my life.

I ended up attending RAHS my Junior and Senior year. In the middle of my junior year, I was put in a foster home. I remember my friends at RAHS telling me that "maybe they would be rich and spoil me". All because they knew how nervous and scared I was. About two months later, my mother passed away. Denise Brown came to my house, sat on my bed with me and told me my mother was gone. That is when I knew that Denise, along with all the RAHS teachers and students, truly loved me.

When my mother's family would not help pay for a funeral, it was Denise and my teachers that stepped up and helped me. They found a way to have a get together to celebrate my mother's life. ALL my teachers came!

The support you get at RAHS goes WAYYYY beyond just reading, writing, and arithmetic. It goes way beyond the grades you get on your test or if you did your homework. RAHS, staff and students, taught me how to love, how to be kind and caring, how to support one another. It taught me about life and relationships.

I now have a relationship with my father, have moved with North Carolina, and am in a healthy relationship with a man who couldn't be any better to me. Thanks to Denise, I knew what I healthy relationship was because my parents were not able to show me what that is.