Normandy High School seniors Devin Deshay and Magdalene Ivory work with Social Studies/Missouri Options teacher Crystal Church on an assignment in the Center for Academics and Social Advancement (C.A.S.A.) program. The C.A.S.A. program is the new education program for Normandy students needing to recover to graduate from high school. Earlier this year, the Joint Executive Governing Board approved the Normandy Schools Collaborative’s plan to bring the alternative education program in-house. For the last three years, alternative education programming was managed by an external firm. C.A.S.A. has also partnered with Wyman, a youth empowerment organization that coordinates wraparound services for the Collaborative, to incorporate these support systems. For example, the program employs a full-time social worker who meets with students to discuss challenges in their lives that may cause trauma, career and college readiness, and goal setting.
