U-46 Makes Giant LEAPP with School-wide Discipline Program
The Legal Circle
, Fall 2000
Building on the success of an impressive debut year, Illinois District U-46
will expand LEAPP (Law Education And Positive Participation), an alternative to
out-of-school suspension program, during the 2000-2001 school year.
LEAPP gives upper elementary and middle school students an intensive course of
three Saturday mornings instead of the traditional out-of-school suspension for
a breach of school rules. Supported by a 21
st
Century grant from the U.S. Department of Education through the assistance of
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and developed in conjunction with CRFC,
LEAPP is designed to reduce suspensions, change student attitudes and
behaviors, deter future juvenile delinquency, and enhance the education of
students who need it most.
We need to get away from the old idea of punishing students," said Steve
Klein, U-46 Director of Safe and Drug Free Schools and the LEAPP Curriculum
Coordinator. "We believe that LEAPP provides our students with the tools
they need to successfully interact with other students in our school and in our
society." The curriculum combines law-related education, conflict
resolution, and anger management, and includes a police partnership and
mandatory parent participation in the final session.
Following training conducted last fall at the Motorola Training Center in
Schaumburg, LEAPP teacher-facilitators worked with 85 students and their
parents during the 1999-2000 school year. So far the results have been
impressive: only two students who participated have been repeat offenders.
Officials in the University of Maryland School of Law are also working to
duplicate the program in the Baltimore Public Schools.
"At first I was skeptical," said Joseph Corcoran, principal at
Gifford Elementary School in U-46. "I quickly found that LEAPP was a
valuable program to have students go through. I know that parents outside the
school are talking about it as an option for their kids."
Funding has been extended into this school year, and U-46 and CRFC are now
developing a similar, two-day program for high school students, with parents
attending one of the days. "Programs like this are needed to change the
climate of schools across the country," said Klein.
Last updated: January 2, 2002
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