New Goodwill school will help adults earn their high school diploma
By Kim Dacey
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BALTIMORE (WBAL) — A new high school that will allow adults to earn a high school diploma for free is coming to Baltimore.
Goodwill Industries’ Excel Center model has proven successful in other states.
Lisa Rusyniak, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, said 80,000 adults in Baltimore haven’t earned their high school diploma.
“I think this is the one thing that’s going to change Baltimore for those who have just fallen by the wayside,” she said.
The school aims to provide a second chance and a new start for adults who dropped out of high school. But this isn’t your average GED program. Students can earn a full Maryland State Diploma.
“Our curriculum has to have been approved by the State Department of Education, so it matches all the same coursework for our high schools for the younger kids, it’s just an accelerated program,” Rusyniak said.
Rusyniak said students graduate in two years or less. Goodwill can help with transportation. There is even a childcare center located onsite at the school.
And thanks to a mix of state and federal funds, it’s all free.
“So, we meet people where they are and do an assessment of the credits they need, what their interests are, and we match all that together and map it out for them, so they’re able to build a class schedule around what their interests are,” she said.
Renovations start next month on the old Goodwill headquarters on Redwood Street, which will become the new Excel Center.
These centers already exist in seven other states with a high success rate. Goodwill said 70% of their students go on to higher education, and ultimately a career.
“When people get jobs, they have an intense sense of dignity, which I think creates better communities, and they’re setting themselves up to be role models for their children and their grandchildren, so this impacts generational poverty,” Rusyniak said.
Goodwill hopes to start enrolling their first 150 students in July and start classes in September.
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