FORT SMITH (KFSM)—Monday (August 22) was the first day of school for Future School students. All 60 students met their classmates and advisors.
“I have been looking forward to this moment the entire summer,” student Amethyst Williams said.
She said she wants to be an animator someday.
“We get internships and our advisors will help us choose an internship based on our interests,” Williams said.
The school’s founder, Trish Flanagan, said students will go to their internships every Wednesday.
“It allows students to really explore what they`re interested in for free, while they`re earning high school credit, before they have to make big decisions about college and career,” Flanagan said.
Students will follow a block schedule the other four days of the week, meaning they will spend 90 minutes in each class and won’t study the same subject two days in a row. Each student has a unique learning plan.
“Some students excel at math, so they might want to take a math class they can take at their own pace,” Flanagan said.
“I was very interested in video production, and when I noticed Future School was avid about me pursuing that interest, that`s why I decided to go to Future School,” student London Montenayor said.
The school day also starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m.
“That`s basically because all the research shows that teenagers, their clocks actually turn on later in the day, so we want that to be one more part of how we`re student centered,” Flanagan said.
Future School is still accepting new 10th grade students until it reaches the class capacity of 150 students.
Next August, 11th grade will be added, and by 2018, there will be room for 450 students in grades 10-12.