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In education, the phrase alternative high school, sometimes referred to as a minischool, is "any junior high school, high school, senior high school, or secondary school having a special curriculum offering a more flexible program of study than a traditional school." An alternative high school serves as an addition to a larger traditional junior high school, high school, senior high school, or secondary school.

Many such schools were founded in the 1970's as an alternative to mainstream or traditional classroom structure. A wide range of philosophies and teaching methods are offered by alternative high schools; some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientations, while others are more ad-hoc assemblies of teachers and students dissatisfied with some aspect of mainstream or traditional education.

Sometimes, particularly in the United States, the phrase alternative high school can refer to a school, which practices alternative education. This is a much broader use of the term, covering all forms of non-traditional educational methods and philosophies, including school choice, independent school, home schooling, and alternative high school.

See also

• Alternative education
• Alternative school
• Education
• Free school
• Gifted education
• Liberal arts college
• Private school
• Public school
• Special education
• Unschooling

References

1. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alternative%20school
2. "Alternative Schools Adapt," by Fannie Weinstein. The New York Times, June 8, 1986, section A page 14.

External links

• Iowa Association of Alternative Education
• International Association for Learning Alternatives

Further reading

• Claire V. Korn, Alternative American Schools: Ideals in Action (Ithaca: SUNY Press, 1991).

Resources

• Alternative education
• Alternative high schools
• School terminology
• School types