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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Students in seventh through 11th grades work on various history lessons in Jordan Brooks’ class at The DAY Program, located at the Alabaster YMCA, on Aug. 31. The private, nonprofit school provides direct services — including academic remediation, behavior modification, training of coping and life skills, and individual and group counseling — to at-risk adolescents and their families.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
The program’s space inside the Alabaster YMCA includes four classrooms, two counseling rooms, four counselor offices, a computer lab and a room for testing and GED prep.
For the last seven years, the second floor of the Alabaster YMCA building has been home to The DAY (Developing Alabama Youth) Program. The private, nonprofit school provides direct services to at-risk adolescents and their families.
Areas of service include academic remediation; GED prep; behavior modification; training of coping and stress management skills; creating a foundation in goal development and problem solving; individual and group counseling; and training of employability and life skills.
The program, which began in 1982, has a mission to become the premier alternative educational and clinical services program for at-risk youth in Shelby County by providing a pathway for success. Retired Judge Patti Smith played an integral part in the foundation of The DAY Program, as she saw a need for kids in the court system who were at risk of making bad choices. Instead of them going to detention or other placements, she wanted to create a safe place for them.
At-risk can be defined as the student being academically at risk of failing out or dropping out of school, falling behind, truancy, not graduating on time or not graduating at all. Some of the main factors are emotional issues and/or behavioral issues but mostly lack motivation or commitment to school.
The program is headed by Executive Director Christy Hayes. Before taking on her current role three years ago, Hayes taught English at The DAY Program for seven years.
“I did not know much about it working with at-risk kids in general, but I fell in love with it,” Hayes said. “When Kathy Miller retired in 2018, I had gone back and gotten certified in school leadership and knew I wanted to step into the leadership role.”
ENTERING THE PROGRAM
Students at The DAY Program are between 13-18 years old and are in seventh through 11th grades. They each have individualized success plans tailored to their needs that are designed upon enrollment. During the last school year, 102 students were served and 91% of the students successfully completed the program.
A United Way partner agency, The DAY Program serves students from Shelby County Schools, Alabaster City Schools and Pelham City Schools. The majority of its funding comes from the Shelby County Board of Education, the Alabaster City School System, Pelham City School System, United Way of Central Alabama, the Department of Youth Services, the Shelby County Commission and other grants and donations.
The DAY program has a 15-member board made up of various school officials, business owners and those involved in their communities. There are also three advisory board members who include Judge Jim Kramer, Cam Ward and Smith.
In addition to the local school systems, The DAY Program has a long-standing working partnership with the Shelby County Juvenile Court. Most of the referrals come from the court and from school counselors, which Hayes said are the ones on the front lines helping identify these students. Private individuals may also make referrals to The DAY Program.
All referred students complete a math and reading pretest to make sure they are on their grade level, or close to it, and that they can work independently.
“The instructors work with the students one-on-one, giving each student individualized instruction,” Hayes said.
The DAY Program offers small class sizes (from one to 15 students per course) and are licensed for 70 total students, 10 of those being GED students. There are currently 30 on the roll, but Hayes said they do get additional referrals throughout the year.
Students rotate classes on a seven-period schedule and have the opportunity to make up credit.
“The goal is for them to always return to public school on track to graduate,” Hayes said.
The program’s space inside the Alabaster YMCA includes four classrooms, two counseling rooms, four counselor offices, a computer lab and a room for testing and GED prep.
There are 14 total staff members at The DAY Program. They include four core teachers who are high quality certified in math, science, English and history. There is also a testing coordinator, GED instructor, a behavioral aide, an office manager and two bus drivers (Shelby County funds the program with two buses that pick up in the northern and southern part of the county).
The DAY Program has four full-time counselors, all of which have master’s degrees or higher in their field. Each student is assigned to a counselor, who has a load of up to 15 students who spend one hour or more per week in individualized, private counseling sessions. Free family counseling is also available. Counselors email, call and meet with parents on a regular basis.
In addition to academic remediation and counseling services, if necessary, students are assisted with finding help related to food, clothing, medical and dental care, employment, and tutoring services.
Besides core classes, students also receive instruction in topics including anger management, behavior modification, coping and stress management, skills, healthy choices, career development, communication, sociology/ psychology, and a ROPES course.
The DAY Program operates on a year-round calendar, and began its school year July 20. There are six weeks off during the summer, a two-week fall break and a two-week spring break.
Due to COVID-19, the program is currently doing a staggered hybrid schedule, according to counselor caseload. Two counselors’ students attend Mondays and Wednesdays and the other counselors’ students attend Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fridays are virtual for all students.
“I made the decision to start a staggered schedule from day one,” Hayes said. “I didn’t really know what else to do. It’s worked out very well, and we plan to continue that through fall break and then see what public schools look like.”
SEEING SUCCESS
Board member Floyd Collins, director of operations for Pelham City Schools, is proud of the direct partnership the schools have with The DAY Program.
Previously the assistant principal at Pelham High School, Collins said there were students who were a good fit for The DAY Program and with smaller class sizes, they could get a lot of the additional academic and social support they need.
“I had been working at the school level and wanted to keep that partnership,” Collins said. “When I was asked to serve on the board, it was an immediate yes. It’s been a tremendous benefit with the Department of Youth Services and the partnership with the juvenile court working together to get these kids what they need, and I’m thankful to have a program like this in our setting. We are all on board to help the kids go there and flourish and transition back to their schools and in much better shape academically and socially has been very beneficial for those students.”
What Hayes enjoys most about her job is when former students come back to visit or drop off a graduation announcement and share their success.
“They say I wouldn’t be able to do this if it wasn’t for The DAY Program,” she said. “Having them come back and share success — that’s what makes it like this is where I’m supposed to be. The day-to-day grind gets heavy, but the best part is watching these kids succeed and graduate and move on into adulthood.”
There is no cost for students to attend The DAY Program. Transportation, lunch, books, tuition and counseling services are all free.
For more information, visit thedayprogram.com.
