Charlie Ussher doesn’t know where she would be today if she hadn’t come to Phoenix House Youth Services when she dropped out of high school as a 14-year-old.
Phoenix House now plans to open up a high school to ensure students like Charlie do not fall through the cracks in mainstream education, while continuing to provide care and counselling to young people. “Don’t think of a regular classroom with desks and chairs and whiteboards,” Gabrielides said. “If we have a class with eight students we would probably have two teachers ... The ratios are going to be very, very different to what they are in a regular school.”
Gabrielides said while the lower north shore had many schooling options, there was a real shortage of alternative education options for disengaged youth in the area.
daniellamariewh You can hardly call it a high school when they’re going to have 20 odd students and just as many staff all funded by The Taxpayer. Call it special education for troublemakers to become activists.