Reaching Beyond Limits to Reach Disengaged Students

Case Study: Hamilton Fulton Montgomery Pathways in Technology Early College High School (Johnstown, N.Y.)

How a BOCES and its component districts joined forces to beat resource constraints and build a customized early college high school experience for students

A challenging fact of education is that there will always be students who thrive and engage more in an academic setting different from the ones available to them. For those of us working in public education, this comes up often for students who would benefit greatly from smaller, more intimate settings difficult to create on existing campuses.

Recognizing this reality, while also recognizing some realistic limitations of working only within their own districts, a group of neighboring districts in upstate New York decided to join forces. Together, they could tap into the power of pooled resources and break beyond the traditional constraints and structures of their standard learning environments to serve segments of students who could most benefit.