14 School at Northeast graduates defy the odds
Students with poor academic history persevere at facility
with alternative approach to education
Niskayuna Spotlight
June 25, 2009
By Jackie Sher

On Thursday, June 25, a group of 14 students will graduate from The School at Northeast. These students haven’t always followed the typical path to a diploma – many of them come to the school with a number of problems, including learning disabilities, family instability and truancy.

Despite all that was working against them, the Class of 2009 persevered with the help of the school’s alternative educational approach, which features small classrooms, individualized instruction and therapeutic support for students who tend to struggle in traditional classroom settings.

The school currently serves 152 students in grades 6-12 at its Hamburg Street facility. Students are referred there through school district committees on special education, county departments of social services and departments of probation. The school has been at its current location for 24 years and has been in operation for approximately 35 years.

Terry Mango, one of the vice principals for The School at Northeast said a typical day at the school is that there isn’t one.

She said that the school functions like any other school – for some students, the bell rings at the end of class and students move on to another classroom to study another subject. There are also students who stay in a “self-contained” classroom all day – according to Mango most students do – where they have one teacher for all of their subjects.

“Those are for kids with more intensive needs . . . Some of them don’t transition well. Their limitations are so severe that they need a lot of extra time and one-on-one classrooms,” said Mango.

Among 2009’s 14 graduates are Nick James and Reniquiwa Bell.

Nick James, 18, of Schenectady, has attended The School at Northeast for seven years and will be the first in his family to receive a high school diploma. He has been working at Combo’s Fish Fry on Crane Street in Schenectady for the past year and will be employed there full-time after graduation. He hopes to some day go to college and eventually open his own Italian restaurant.

“He has a good sense of humor. There were ups and downs, and sometimes it was a struggle,” said Mara Gallagher, James’ clinician.

Gallagher said there were times when James would stop going to school. Staff at The School at Northeast kept reaching out to him, and now he has many connections at the school.

“He really views Northeast as a family,” said Gallagher.

She said that some of his best qualities are his sense of humor and his resiliency.

“He’s been through a few difficult years. His mom’s health and his grandma’s health fluctuate. It seems like one is always sick,” said Gallagher.

“I think this is like a safe place for him, and he loves coming to school.”

Gallagher also said that the people James has worked with in the restaurant have introduced him to other members of the community, including business owners who have encouraged him to pursue his dreams.

“I think they’re a positive resource for him with encouraging him to graduate,” said Gallagher.

Amy Major, James’ teacher, worked with him for his senior year in a self-contained classroom all year.

“It’s a challenge, but he’s improved so much even from just September to now,” said Major.

“He’s focused, and he was so determined to graduate this year and get everything done. He was more focused on his school work and coming to school more often than he used to,” said Major.

She also noted that he was always a “hothead,” but that over the years he has worked on his temper, and the way he deals with his feelings has improved dramatically.

Major said that while James doesn’t like to show it, he’s a very caring person.

“When he found out that I was pregnant when I told my class, he made sure that nobody would bump into me, and if there wasn’t a seat in the room he would tell someone to get up or get me one,” said Major.

Another student, Reniquiwa Bell, used to fall asleep in class.

“The first thing I did when I came in was put my head down and go to sleep,” said Bell.

She was failing her classes when a light finally clicked in her head. Not only did she start staying awake in her classes, she started excelling academically.

“If I miss school, I come in the next day and I make up my work like that,” said Bell.

Her teacher, Colleen Garbarini, said that Bell is constantly trying to improve herself.

“She really struggles with academics but tries her damndest, but this year especially, whenever she was done with her normal academic work, she was asking, ‘Is there a book I can read? I need to improve my reading.’ She is seeking out ways to better herself, which is tremendous,” said Garbarini.

Bell also worked as a teachers’ assistant in the art department for students in grades beneath hers and worked at PetSmart for several weeks doing “everything but work on the cash register.”

Garbarini describes her as the “mother of the classroom,” often times “reading the riot act” when students were out of line and showing them the ropes.

“She definitely has grown in terms of her maturity, for the most part I definitely will miss her spirit. She is bubbly and most of the time she is a really hard worker.”

For information about Northeast Parent & Child Society, go to www.neparentchild.org.