20-05-2025
A.L.'s adult education program served more than 300 students in last year from diverse backgrounds
May 20—Albert Lea's adult education program taught 327 students in the last year, including people from 25 countries who speak 17 different languages, Community Education Director John Double shared during the Albert Lea school board on Monday.
Double gave an update about the adult education program and all of the Community Ed programs to the board members.
He said 62 percent of the students in the adult education courses were employed while they were in classes.
Through the courses, 19 achieved their GEDs, and 12 students achieved other credentials, whether that was a CNA license, training as a paraeducator, community interpreter or others.
Overall, the program had more than 19,000 contact hours with students, which is up 7.4% from the prior year.
Double said challenges included finding new staff, particularly those available in the evenings, as well as visibility and knowledge of the program, programming changes and the political climate.
Some of the successes include implementing online testing, implementing more life skills classes and incorporating a Students Learning with Children Day.
Child care
Double said the Tiger Cub Child Care Center struggles with its annual average fill rate, noting it needs to improve its numbers at the start of the year.
He said tuition increased going into the school year to help cover costs. Other challenges include unexpected staffing expenses and finding substitutes, as well as reviewing other school-age care programs.
Some of the successes have been the staff consistency for returning Tiger Cub families, as well as grants and donations the program has received, including from Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation and other businesses and individual donations.
The Tiger Wraparound care had challenges in the summer of 2024 when it relocated. It has also seen a need because of program staff substitutes and additional student needs being seen.
Some of the successes of this program include enrollment numbers and increased collaboration with Tiger Cub.
Enrichment programs
The enrichment programs offered through Community Education have seen an increased variety, particularly with trips and fitness classes over the last year. There has also been an opportunity to bring classes to the community through the local Home Daycare Association.
Driver education has also expanded to have an online classroom option and has received support from Workforce Development Inc. and the American Indian Education Aid Opportunity.
There was also a grant that allowed youth to try after-school programming.
Challenges have been relocating staff in 2024 and staff turnover. They have also seen challenges with needing instructors and increased costs in paper and postage.
Experiential education
Experiential education has seen a collaboration with the targeted services program, as well as other new programming.
There has also been increased attendance at the rock gym because of updates being done to the rock gym climbing routes. He noted experiential programs, such as team building opportunities, are growing.
Challenges have been costs for participants and program scheduling for families, along with weather in some situations.
Facilities scheduling
Community Education over the last year has overseen facilities scheduling, specifically more than 11,000 schedule requests for use of facilities in the district.
He said facility rental revenues have increased from the prior year from $11,240 to $30,070 through early May.
Some of the highlights looking forward include the opening of the boathouse June 3, and programming with targeted services starting soon.
There will be eight offerings for daytime adventure trips, as well as driver education, defensive driving and adult fitness classes. There will also be many camp opportunities, parents night out and river trips, along with music, art, language, technology, robotics and rocketry classes. There will also be some in-person cooking classes.
He said registration continues for the Tiger Cub Child Care Center and the WrapAround program.
In other action, the board:
—Heard an update about summer programming that will be occurring within the district.
Johanna Thomas said credit recovery is slated to start June 9 at Albert Lea High School for students in ninth through 12th grade who need to recover credits for graduation.
She noted during the school year there were 214 students enrolled in credit recovery after school and on one Saturday a month, and these students recovered 152 credits. Last summer there were 193 students enrolled.
Tiger Tails Targeted Services will also begin June 9 at Hawthorne Elementary School for first through sixth grades, with seventh and eighth-graders at the high school.
This program provides a time for students struggling in the traditional school environment to receive supplemental instruction and experiences through an alternative approach.
There are currently 247 students enrolled, but Thomas said she anticipated over 300 students by the time it starts.
Students in Targeted Services are able to take part in experiential education opportunities through Community Education and activities such as rocketry for third-graders.
