Early Learning Center - Flint

Academy West Alternative High School in Flint gives students a different route to a diploma. Some arrive behind on credits, some had their education interrupted, and some felt out of place at a traditional high school. Students do not need to live in the Westwood Heights district to enroll, and we serve students through age 21. We meet Monday through Thursday on a 95-minute block schedule, so students can earn up to 8 credits a year instead of the usual 6. Fridays are open for make-up work, computer time, tutoring and enrichment. Students choose traditional in-seat classes, online coursework in our building, or online learning from home through Westwood Virtual Academy, our partnership with MyVirtual Academy. GED and adult education options are also available. Our coursework follows the Michigan Common Core curriculum with 18 core credits and 4 electives. Staff mentor students and group them into cohorts to clear the barriers that keep them from graduating on time, and math and reading coaches from the Genesee Intermediate School District work alongside our teachers.

Early Childhood Programs and Services is the Genesee Intermediate School District's center-based special education program for young children, serving students from age 2 and a half through age 8 for every local district in Genesee County. Our main building is on Pilgrim Road in Flint, with a second site, the Woodland location, on Beveridge Road. We run three program types: Early Childhood Special Education Preschool, an Autism Spectrum Disorder program and a Cognitive Impairment program. Placements are made together with families and local school districts. Our team works in a transdisciplinary model in a language-rich setting, using positive approaches to behavior and structured classroom routines. Under one principal, our staff includes teachers and para-educators, consultants, occupational therapists and a certified occupational therapy assistant, speech therapists, physical therapists and a physical therapy assistant, nurses, a social worker and a school psychologist. Our guiding acronym, TIES, stands for teach, inspire, encourage and support, and family support is part of the program.

At Elmer A. Knopf Learning Center, Genesee County students ages 8 to 26 work on academics, daily-life skills, and greater independence. The Genesee Intermediate School District serves students with moderate cognitive impairments or autism through this center-based program. Its supported-independence curriculum gives that work a practical focus as students move through different stages of school and young adulthood.