Departments - School of Choice The Mission of the School of Choice is to provide an alternate path to graduation by helping the students become self-disciplined, effective learners.

Current School of Choice News 6/12/10:  We have a new page!  Check out SOC Voices from the Past to see letters from LAHS graduates who were in the SOC program.  Find out what they're doing now and how SOC affected their lives! (This page is being updated throughout the year, so check back every so often for new additions!) 6/10/10:  Most SOC classes for the 2010-2011 school year are full.  School of Choice courses and staff for 2010-2011: SOC Literature 10/11 and SOC Literature 12: Whitney Pomeroy SOC Algebra 2 and SOC Geometry: Christopher Cretella SOC Government / Economics and SOC US History: Jon Frost SOC Chemistry: Rachel Cowan SOC Biology: Stephanie Mitchell School of Choice (SOC) is an alternate program within Los Alamos High School that is intended to reach students who have a strong desire to learn and who want to graduate but who are failing their core classes. SOC students typically are those who work hard in class, participate well, are abstract thinkers, and are creative, but who fail when it comes to homework and tests. Typical SOC students have high academic ability but have outside factors that affect their ability to complete work after school. SOC classes focus more on concepts rather than details, and the curriculum is based on in-class debate, discussion, and projects. Learning is done in the classroom using interactive, student-motivated methods. The goal is to help students learn to think, analyze, and apply their knowledge, and to be able to take pride in their work. The coursework covers the same New Mexico State Standards as general LAHS courses; however, the work may seem even more challenging due to the nature of the higher-level thinking that is expected of students. Extensive in-class reading and writing are part of the program, and frequent use of computers and Internet access are part of the curriculum. Due to the nature of the work, there are no freshman classes in the School of Choice program. In order to be considered for the School of Choice program, students must apply and go through a formal interview process. Not all students who apply are interviewed, and not all students who are interviewed are accepted into the program. Students who are accepted must maintain a 70% in each of their SOC classes in order to earn credit and in order to stay in the program. Application process: To apply, the student must first go to the Guidance Office and discuss SOC with his or her guidance counselor. The counselor may give the student an SOC application, if deemed appropriate. The student must then fill out the application with his or her parents, return it to the counselor for her signature, and turn it in to Mrs. Pomeroy. Parents are generally contacted within two weeks of receipt of the application to set up an interview with the student and the parents. After the interview, the student's current teachers and/or guidance counselor may be contacted to discuss the student's appropriateness for the SOC program. Parents are generally notified within three weeks of the interview regarding whether or not their son / daughter was accepted. If accepted, guidance counselors are notified, and the student's schedule is changed to incorporate SOC courses. Acceptance to School of Choice is based on the application, the interview, and LAHS staff recommendation and feedback. For more information, please contact: Whitney Pomeroy, SOC Department Chair, at 663-2586 or w.pomeroy@laschools.net What is "Discovery Learning"?  Click http://www.learning-theories.com/discovery-learning-bruner.html to find out! The following article excerpt was taken from the New York Times: M.I.T. has made a striking change. The physics department has replaced the traditional large introductory lecture with smaller classes that emphasize hands-on, interactive, collaborative learning. Last fall, after years of experimentation and debate and resistance from students, who initially petitioned against it, the department made the change permanent. Already, attendance is up and the failure rate has dropped by more than 50 percent. M.I.T. is not alone. Other universities are changing their ways, among them Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, North Carolina State University, the University of Maryland, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Harvard. In these institutions, physicists have been pioneering teaching methods drawn from research showing that most students learn fundamental concepts more successfully, and are better able to apply them, through interactive, collaborative, student-centered learning. "I can't stay awake when I read!" Click here for Active Reading Strategies! Voices from the Past:  What do SOC grads have to say about the program?  Click here to see where they are now! School Of Choice Overview - Student Responses (2005-2006): Over the years, the SOC teachers have heard of some misconceptions regarding the SOC program. SOC students were given an opportunity to respond to these using their own experience as evidence. Read what they had to say (PDF).