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NEW CHARTER PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL, LIFE SKILLS CENTER OF COLORADO SPRINGS, BEGINS ENROLLING STUDENTS
Community-based charter
school enables students to complete high school
and earn a full high school diploma while fulfilling their family and
work obligations
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - May 17, 2004 -
Life Skills Center of Colorado Springs today announced the opening of a
new charter high school designed to serve up to 300 students. The new
tuition-free school is now pre-enrolling students, and classes are
scheduled to start in September. The Life Skills Center of Colorado
Springs' temporary enrollment office is located at 412 South Tejon St.,
(719) 471-0684. When the new school's construction is complete in
September, the Life Skills Center of Colorado Springs will be located at
1810 Eastlake Blvd., just east of South Union Blvd. To learn more about
Life Skills Centers, visit us on the web at
www.lifeskillscenters.com.
The Life Skills Center of Colorado Springs is authorized and funded
through Colorado Springs School District 11. The non-profit Life Skills
Center Board has selected White Hat Management, LLC, one of the nation's
premier education service providers, to operate the school. White Hat
has extensive experience managing schools that offer communities,
parents, and students a high-quality, tuition-free alternative to
traditional public schools. Colorado Springs School District 11 supports
the Life Skills Center, recognizing that a significant number of young
people in the community could benefit from such a program.
"We are very excited about the opening of the Life Skills Center of
Colorado Springs," said Mark Thimmig, CEO and president of White Hat
Ventures LLC, parent company of the privately operated White Hat
Management, LLC. "Life Skills is a unique, proven program reaching
thousands of dropout students across the country each year. Life Skills
Center graduates possess not only a high school diploma, but also
valuable work experience, life skills, and the motivation to pursue
their dreams."
"Life Skills has a strong, community-centered Board, which is dedicated
to success for our students, our community, and finally the economic
vitality of the region," said Jose Aponte, Member of the nonprofit
School Board of Life Skills Center of Colorado Springs, and Executive
Director of the Pikes Peak Library District. "Every child deserves the
opportunity to succeed grow, and develop to their fullest potential. We
believe Life Skills has the proven capacity to deliver on that promise."
The Life Skills Center is a public community school specifically
designed to accommodate students ages 16 to 21 who have had difficulty
with the rigid routine of traditional public high schools. The school is
intended to assist students who have dropped out from a traditional high
school program. Graduates earn state-recognized high school diplomas--not
GEDs--that are fully recognized by colleges, universities, employers, and
the U.S. military.
Life Skills Center students have many of the same state graduation
requirements as other Colorado Springs Public School students; however,
at a Life Skills Center, students are given the flexibility of selecting
one of several different schedules to achieve the requisite educational
credits and testing accomplishments so that a student may also fulfill
his or her family and work obligations at the same time. The three
possible classes, which are computer-based and teacher-supported, Monday
through Friday, 46 weeks per year, include 8 a.m. to noon; 10:15 a.m. to
2:15 p.m.; and 1:30 to 5:30. As demand warrants, a fourth session in the
evening may be added.
"Under the direction of our local administrator in Colorado Springs, our
staff will deliver a mix of academics, life skills, and career
preparation," Thimmig said. "Students are treated as individuals, who
work at their own pace and level to accomplish their goals.
"One of the hallmarks of the Life Skills program is that it is carefully
aligned with the needs of students and the local community. Our Board
Members are committed to assisting young people who need to complete
their high school diploma. We carefully select our staff from the
community to attract people who share our vision for operating
first-rate community-based charter schools of choice. Life Skills
Centers are located along major lines of public transportation, and
offer flexible class times to enable students to pursue their education
while fulfilling their work and family responsibilities."
As of December 2003, approximately 3,600 students have received their
high school diplomas from Life Skills Centers currently operated by
White Hat Management. Many graduates go on to college, trade school,
military service, or into a career where their earning potential is
significantly greater than before.
About White Hat Management
The privately operated White Hat Management, founded in 1998 by Akron,
Ohio industrialist and education activist David Brennan, is among the
premier full-service education service providers in the United States
dedicated to educating K-12 students. The company is the largest charter
school operator in Ohio. White Hat operates 35 schools, with three
distinct educational offerings: Life Skills Centers; HOPE Academies,
which are community-based charter public schools for kindergarten
through tenth grade; DELA Academy, which provides distance education to
students in their homes in Ohio and Pennsylvania. White Hat currently
employs more than 1,400 people, including nearly 1,300 teachers, staff
and administrators in the schools it operates. For more information,
visit www.whitehatmgmt.com.