Opened in 1999

The Life Skills Center of Akron is based upon the premise that at-risk students have different needs, learn at different rates and have diverse learning styles which are not currently addressed by traditional public schools and which cause many of these at-risk students to drop out of school.  Likewise, the Life Skills Center believes that everyone deserves a quality education that meets their individual needs and that students that have dropped out of school or who are perilously close to doing so need a second chance.  As such, the mission of the Life Skills Center of Akron is to save at-risk students by giving them a second chance at obtaining a quality education, vocational training and placement and thereby guiding them on a path to success. 

This mission will be served by providing the Center’s students with an individualized and self-paced program set in a flexible scheduling environment that is responsive to its students’ needs, and by providing an educational experience that leads to a high school diploma and full-time employment.

The Life Skills Center currently utilizes Plato, Compass Learning and A+ educational curriculum software, which may change based on the needs of the student and state credit requirements.  The school offers an individualized program for each student to progress at his/her own pace.  Accordingly, the major focus of the Life Skills Center’s curriculum directly aligns with its mission of personalized, basic, and enhanced learning opportunities for grades 9-12 students whose parents, or students themselves s adults, have opted for an alternative education.  This alternative uses one-on-one instructional methods, which combine classroom Teachers with the latest, 21st century technological delivery systems.  The teachers are trained to (and the computer programs are designed to) prevent a student from proceeding to the next step/level until he/she reaches  a minimum of a seventy-percent (70%) mastery level on the current lesson.  Curriculum is directed at teaching students the academic subjects (reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, etc.) and skills they need to flourish in life, such as vocational skills and daily living skills.

Students

At-risk students ages 16-21 are eligible to enroll at the Life Skills Center of Akron.  The Center is a non-graded, non-traditional high school; serving what would be traditionally considered grades 9-12.  Students enroll in the “school” rather than a specific grade level. 

The Life Skills Center of Akron is the viable education alternative which targets the population of students whose educational needs are not currently being met at any meaningful level by an existing public school offering.  The Life Skills model catches the students that are falling through the cracks and empowers the community with more contributing adult citizens.