The Alternative School Program (ASP) is currently located in the One Way Farm of Fairfield, Inc. multipurpose building. It is an intense educational program specifically designed with special needs children in mind; children who have no base for education because of a life crisis or other forms of abuse and often cannot successfully obtain education through the larger public system. This program addresses their special type of learning disability or other unseen emotional or physical needs.

Children learn in our computer lab, exposing them to newer technology that they can utilize in the teaching/learning process, using small teacher/student ratios. Audio and visual aids ar also available, including a large screen television. We can further stimulate personal growth through the Animal Education "Therapy Program."

Goals of this program include:

• To maintain an alternative method of education for children having difficulty succeeding in traditional school settings.

• To provide Mental Health and Drug & Alcohol Counseling to children placed into the alternative program, in hopes of identifying potential issues.

• To provide youth with educational needs through integration of the Alternative School and Animal Education Therapy.

The current alternative school has capacity for 22 children and needs a new space due to the lack of room in the multipurpose building. Children who do not have an opportunity to participate in an Alternative School Program can become dropouts or have discipline problems. We feel many of these issues could be resolved with more individualized teaching and smaller population groups.