Lynn program offers chance at education

LYNN – There was a time in their lives that school was the furthest thing from their minds. Whether it was missing class in order to have a baby or dropping out for family or legal reasons, all of the estimated 300 students in the Lynn Public School’s LEEP Program have their own story.Short for Lynn Educational Evening Program, LEEP offers high school-aged students who are unable to attend school during the day a second opportunity at an education. Whether they are drop-outs or non-traditional students who work to support their families during the day, LEEP is available to any student who wants to work toward a high school diploma, rather than a GED.Students enrolled in the program can take English, science, algebra, history, social studies, phys ed, health and computer classes – nearly all of which are also offered to English as a second language learners as well – as they work to achieve the credits that they need to graduate from the program.”The LEEP Program is an alternate place to put kids who would have otherwise been expelled and we also take kids who have dropped out for one reason or another,” said Lynn’s Attendance and Discipline Specialist Richard Iarrobino, who is the program’s assistance director. “The goal is always to get them back into regular school, but a lot of kids are working to support their families or they are taking care of their children during the day.”Another component to the program is put into place to help traditional students who may be struggling to reach graduation requirements in the city’s high schools. The LEEP Program allows students to re-take classes they have failed in high school in order to stay on track with graduation requirements.For example, if a student fails ninth grade math but passes the other courses and moves on to 10th grade, that student can take the 10th grade math class during the day, and re-take the ninth grade math class at night.”It helps them get the credits they need to graduate,” said Iarrobino. “At this point, our goal is to get them out. Get them out of school and over to North Shore (Community College) or another college, or out into the working world.”In its 13th year, at Lynn English High School, the program, run by Iarrobino and Director Karen Twomey, has become so successful that other area school districts have contacted the pair to see if they could pay to send students to Lynn.”We have had inquiries from a lot of other communities, asking if they can send their students here and pay the tuition,” Iarrobino said. “We don’t do it because we do not have school choice in Lynn, so we cannot.”Registration for the LEEP Program is available to any Lynn high school student Sept. 15, 16 and 17 from 4-7:30 p.m. at Lynn English High School.The first day of classes, which run Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, begin Sept. 22.