Domus High School Model
Program Goal
Target Population
The Domus High School Model
strives to help the highest risk,
disengaged youth graduate from
high school by helping them:
 Overcome non-academic barriers
to academic success
 Gain critical literacy and math
skills
 Recover core credits
The Domus High School Model
restarts learning for the highest
risk, disengaged youth whose
learning has been stalled. Our
model helps our students achieve
the education they need to
graduate from high school
functionally literate.
Students who:
 Are in grades 9 through 12
 Have a full Scale IQ of 85 or higher
The students who come to Domus
schools typically:
 Qualify for free/reduced lunch
 Suffer from trauma
 Have been chronically truant
 Have significant behavioral histories
(e.g., suspended or expelled
from school, justice system
involved, aggressive or
assaultive behavior, etc.)
 Are 3+ years behind grade level in
math and/or literacy
(standardized tests)
Program Components
For at least two years, the Domus High School Model engages youth in the following ways:
HIGH QUALITY REMEDIAL ACADEMIC INSTRUCTION (To gain critical literacy skills)
Literacy Skills Development
 Remedial Reading Class combining 3 evidence based remedial reading programs: Specific Language Training, Visualizing and Verbalizing and Basic Writing Skills, 65 minutes a day, 5 days/week,
40 weeks/year
 School-wide Reading Challenge, 5 weeks/year
FAMILY ADVOCACY (To overcome non-academic barriers to academic success)
Development of Action Plan
 Create Individual Action Plan (articulates youth goals related to attendance, behavior, social-emotional skills); assess progress quarterly
 Meet individually with youth to review goals of action plan (minimum 4x per year)
School Attendance and Engagement
 Monitor attendance daily and follow-up with absences, including calling home, picking up youth who need transportation, etc
 Implement weekly intensive attendance interventions for chronically truant students (
Social and Emotional Skill Building
 Provide Girl’s Circle (focused on self-efficacy, body image, and social connection) and Boy’s Council (focused on school engagement): proven curriculum from One Circle Foundation (rated as
“Promising Approach” by OJJDP), 1 hour/week (30 weeks)
 Hold Community Meetings in classroom, 2x daily (30 minutes per day, 40 weeks), based on Sanctuary Model curriculum, a trauma informed, evidence-supported model from the National Child
Traumatic Stress Network
 Provide SELF psycho-educational curriculum (focused on safety, emotions, loss and future), Sanctuary Model evidence-supported curriculum, minimum of 30 hours per year
EFFECTIVE OUT-OF-SCHOOL-TIME PROGRAMMING: (To recover core credits)
Extended Learning Opportunities (20 hours per academic year)
 Technology-enhanced curriculum delivery students increase learning time past the traditional school hours/provides individualized instruction for students where they are at their current level
 Apex, online credit recovery program that allows students to work through rigorous course at their own pace
 Summer Literacy Enrichment Program, 4x/week, 6 weeks, 2 hours/day
 Summer Math Enrichment Program, 4x/week, 6 weeks, 2 hours/day
FOLLOW-UP
 Track progress of Stamford Academy youth who have transitioned out of high school, 6 and 12 months out
Questions on this model:
 Is 2 years the right amount of time to make these gains, understanding that the population moves quite a bit, and becomes restless and is unlikely to commit o a 4 year remediation program?
 How do we balance kids arriving so far behind (often at the elementary school level), with their chronological age and desire to graduate in a reasonable period of time? How do we keep them
“hooked” long enough to get what they need and not give up?
 Is functional literacy the right definition (the level of reading, writing and communication skills necessary to function in today’s society? Is it literacy level 2 or 3 that we are shooting for? Is it
realistic?
 What is the value of a Stamford Academy diploma?
 We say it takes 5 years to get a diploma but we have them for 2, does this make sense?
Expected Outcomes
 Increased literacy scores
 Increased credits earned toward
high school graduation
 Improved school attendance
 Improved behavior in schools
 Growth in social and emotional
skills
Outcome:
 High school graduation,
functionally literate, in 5 years