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On Monday evening, the Troup County School System discussed plans to return Hope Academy to its original program designation rather than it being a separate school.

The change comes after the school was recently identified as a federally underperforming school. Hope Academy was recently named to the list after its Georgia Milestones Assessment System (GMAS) scores in English Language Arts trended down for the last three years, specifically in the middle school group.

The school’s GMAS scores have actually trended up in math, science and social studies but ELA landed them in the bottom 5% of Title I schools and named a Federally Identified underperforming school.

The alternative school currently has only 24 middle school students, who come from each of the district’s three middle schools. The kids are there for instruction, but their primary reason for being at the school is behavioral issues.

TCSS Director of Secondary Education Amy Thornton explained that Hope Academy doesn’t have the same kids each year or even semester, so it’s in a constant rotation.

School Superintendent Rachel Hazel said the number of students at Hope is so small that putting their scores back into their home schools would make negligible change to their overall scores.

“The real purpose is to return it to what it is intended to be, which is an intervention for students so that they can get back to their home school and be successful in their home school,” Hazel said.

Thornton said the plan is to return Hope to being a program rather than a separate school, much like Thinc Academy or TC3. Hope Academy had previously been designated as a program several years ago.

Thornton said the change will relieve some of the pressure on Hope staff so they can provide the things their students need.

“It will still be an instructional place. They have an instruction program. We will continue to do that, but I think the way it’s set up now, the pressure of providing some of those social, and emotional skills, maybe that can be more in-depth. You can do some of the things that can help support their success without the pressure of continuing to be on a list,” Thornton said.