For the first time every student at Cape Elizabeth High School, regardless of whether they are failing a class or are in the National Honor Society, has a place to go when they want help with their math homework, have an English essay that needs revision or want to improve their study skills.

The new Achievement Center at the high school has been up and running for a few weeks now and is open to all students during their free periods as a place to get help from tutors in a number of areas, including math, English, organization and study skills and, very soon, an inexpensive SAT prep course.

The center is funded in part by the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation, which provided $50,000 in startup costs. David Weatherbie, the foundation’s president, said the concept for the center was on the list of things administrators wanted but could not afford.

“It was right up our alley,” Weatherbie said. “We love this concept.”

The foundation provided the initial funds to purchase 10 computers and special educational software called Plato. The foundation plans to phase out funding over the next three years, after which time the school will fully fund the center.

Weatherbie said the foundation wants to create similar programs at the middle and elementary schools within the next five years. The foundation began a capital campaign over the summer to raise $750,000 for the programs. The foundation is still fund-raising, or “friend-raising” as Weatherbie likes to call it, but has already raised $500,000.

Weatherbie said what was important to the education foundation was that the center be open to all students, whether they’re studying remedial algebra or honors level. The job of the center is “to push (students) to take their education to the next level regardless of where they’re at,” Weatherbie said. “We really view (the foundation) as a resource to help the schools succeed in the mission they have set for themselves.”

A “driving force” behind the creation of the center, High School Principal Jeffrey Shedd said the achievement center is especially important with the possibility of the Maine Learning Results determining who can and cannot graduate looming in the future.

“This is really something special,” said Ginger Raspiller, the coordinator of the center. Her position is the only full-time position in the center, but there are three part-time employees, with plans for a fourth in the near future.

Raspiller said the success of the center relies on the teachers getting involved, so in a two-week period she set up an opportunity for the whole staff to visit the center, use the software and see how the center could supplement their curriculum. To date, she estimates 80 percent of staff have visited. Raspiller said the criticism and suggestions the teachers gave were important. “It laid a solid foundation,” she said.

“Kids have this wait-and-see attitude,” Raspiller said. “But if it helps them academically they’ll tell their peers,” and hopefully the word will spread.

The software, Plato, was piloted with a few students beginning three weeks ago. The educational software is Internet-based and offers students the ability to move through tutorials at their own pace on numerous subjects, “over 400 hours of algebra alone,” Raspiller said. Soon, students and teachers will be able to access the tutorials from home.

Sophmore Tina Sarichny was one of the students chosen to pilot the Plato software. She has been using the software during her study hall time to finish an Algebra II course she didn’t finish last year. She said the software allows her to finish the course in a very short amount of time, rather than taking the complete class over again. Though she has to take the tests with her math teacher, the software allows her to advance through the tutorials at her own pace.

“It’s better than just sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher,” Sarichny said. “Sometimes you don’t grasp everything you’re told.” Sarichny said the software also provides options for various styles of learning, offering plenty of visuals, written explanations and some audio.

Sarichny said the achievement center “is one of the best things the school has put in.”

Veteran teacher Elaine Brownell, head of the math department at the high school and part-time math tutor in the center, said she is excited about how much more support the school can offer students with the center.

“We’re sort of defining ourselves conservatively right now,” said Brownell. “We’re trying to do a few things really well this first year.”

Brownell said students will use the center because they take pride in their work and they want to feel comfortable with their subjects when they enter the classroom, something the center can help them with.

Freshman Julianna Campbell is one of those students. She has used the center during her study hall period a couple of times to work on some math she has been having difficulty with. She said the center is helpful because she can receive extra help from Brownell and have time to finish quizzes she missed while she was sick, “so I don’t have to stay after school.”

Raspiller said the center would grow to meet what students and teachers need. She keeps a database of what services students are using so she can better understand the needs that are out there and how the center can best provide support in the future. She hopes the center will grow to offer additional services, including more peer tutoring, a summer program and prep courses on more than just the SATs.

Sophomore Tina Sarichny uses a computer in the new Achievment Center at Cape Elizabeth High School to move through an Algebra II course.

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