Upward Bound High School in

Hartwick, New York Hartwick is a town located in Otsego County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 2,110. The Town of Hartwick is located in the middle of the county, southwest of the Village of Cooperstown. History The t ...

was the first

alternative education Alternative education encompasses many pedagogical approaches differing from mainstream pedagogy. Such alternative learning environments may be found within state, charter, and independent schools as well as home-based learning environments. ...

program in

Otsego County, New York Otsego County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,524. The county seat is Cooperstown. The name ''Otsego'' is from a Mohawk or Oneida word meaning "place of the rock." History In 178 ...

. Created by English teacher Mike Newell and principal Mark Rathbun, Upward Bound High school was first located in the basement of a Unitarian church in

Oneonta, New York Oneonta ( ) is a city in southern Otsego County, New York, United States. It is one of the northernmost cities of the Appalachian Region. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, Oneonta had a population of 13,079. Its nickname is "City of the Hil ...

. Created in the mid-1980s, Upward Bound strived to create an environment for "at-risk" high school students more conducive to learning than traditional publicly run school. By pooling together the students having the most difficulty functioning, regardless of the root of the problem, Upward Bound brought students together by eliminating labels. In classes of a maximum of eight students, each student could now properly be concentrated on. Though the school has ostensibly disappeared within the last three years , the program still continues, though with less of an eye toward individuality. After the move to Hartwick, Upward Bound students had their own

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...

and building, providing a safe location in which to thrive. Always a part of the Otsego-Northern-Catskills BOCES program, Upward Bound most recently joined the local occupational education center in their own wing of the facility. With this transformation, and more closely controlled operations by new BOCES management, much of the founding staff has been displaced. Though now vastly different from the original concept, the school still represents a progressive approach to alternative education.

External links

* Otsego Area Occupational Cente
Alternative Education
Alternative schools in the United States Defunct schools in New York (state) Schools in Otsego County, New York {{NewYork-school-stub