A new alternative school will soon be under construction in Swain County to serve middle and high school students who are not performing well in the regular classroom. It should be open by the start of the 2006 school year.

It will serve students with behavioral problems, at-risk students and students with learning disabilities. The alternative school will be constructed on the Swain County High School campus. It will be 7,000 square feet and cost about $975,000.

“We really need it badly,” said Bob Marr, the assistant superintendent for Swain County schools.

Currently, the school system doesn’t have space to adequately serve this population of students, Marr said. A modular classroom only serves 12 students, while the new school will serve 45.

Marr said the alternative school will benefit students in the regular classroom as well. Removing students with behavioral problems or students that require more attention from the general classroom setting will free up teachers to spend more time on instruction.

Marr said the goal of the school isn’t to park students there permanently, however.

“A lot of times a kid will get behind and will get discouraged. If you can remove them from that setting and put them in a setting with more individual attention and help, the kids become successful and feel good about themselves. And when they are caught up with the rest of their classmates you can put them back in the school system,” Marr said.

Marr said it doesn’t work that way with every student, however. Some will stay at the alternative school, he said.

Alternative schools operated by the public school system are becoming a standard in growing rural communities. Haywood County operates Central Haywood High School, designed primarily to provide an atmosphere that keeps at-risk teenagers in school. Jackson County runs a similar school known as the HUB.