High School Drop-out Prevention Program: In the drop-out prevention program the students work to graduate from High School with a Performance based High School diploma. The students that participate in the program must be at least one year behind and range in ages from 17 to 19 years old. The students graduate by completing 3 steps; passing the 10th grade FSA, the end of course exam for Algebra 1, and the GED test. Upon completion of these tests, the students receive the performance based High Schol Diploma from Duval County Schools. The PBD Diploma has all the rights of a standard diploma.
The program is extremely successful due to the small class sizes and low teacher-to-student ratio. Another integral part of the program is that every student participates in a commercial fishing class as part of the school’s elective classes. They fish on the local waterways and do trips on the school boat. This infusion of the academics and the fishing elective, makes for a highly successful program while developing a strong connection to the local environment.