Quest flex program helps students succeed at their own pace
Quest High School is an alternative school for BCISD students, located at 702 N. Wood Street in Burnet. Staff photo by Caden Senn
A flexible school day at Burnet Consolidated Independent School District’s Quest High School has allowed several students to thrive in the classroom at their own pace.
Quest’s Optional Flexible School Day Program, backed by the Texas Education Agency, aims to increase students’ ability to complete credit required for graduation and reduce daily absences by allowing them more flexibility in the hours and days they are required to attend school.
Quest is an alternative high school in BCISD with a student body typically made up of several dozen youth who need a different learning environment from that at Burnet High School, whether it be for health, financial, or circumstantial reasons.
Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Rachel Jones told BCISD trustees that the flex program further bolsters these students’ chances at succeeding.
“There are certain situations that prevent a typical school day to not work for (Quest students),” she said during a June 22 Board of Trustees meeting. “It might be work responsibilities, because they’re financially responsible for their families. We have several students that go through pregnancies, or are fathers that are trying to support their children.”
The program has shown a positive trend of success since its inception, too, with nearly 120 students participating since the 2017-18 school year. This year, that trend continued.
“This year… we totaled 112,944 attendance minutes,” Dr. Jones said. “We had 11 students that successfully graduated as part of the program.”
Dr. Jones added that students who are approved for the flex program are held to high standards and are required to upkeep a normal schedule of attendance, or else they are placed back into the regular Quest program.
“I work really hard to try and make sure this isn’t just a ‘hey, this is an easier way for you if you don’t want to come to school every day,’” she said. “If (students) show a pattern where they’re not coming when they said they were, they know that they’re going to be removed from the program and be put back on regular attendance.”
With the program’s continued success, the district’s trustees later greenlit an application to continue the program through the consent agenda during Monday night’s meeting.