The Alliance School, a small, Milwaukee Public Schools instrumentality charter school serving 175 students in grades 6 through 12, will be featured on ABC’s “20/20” on Friday, September 30, 2011, at 9 p.m. Central Time. Alliance will be presented as a positive contrast to the Oxnard, Calif., middle school environment in which Lawrence King was murdered by a classmate for identifying as gay.
“We started the Alliance School with the mission to be a safe, student-centered, and academically challenging school for students who have been bullied or harassed in other settings. We are successfully educating students in academic subjects while also helping them develop key skills in community-building, peace-making, and collaboration,” said Tina Owen, Alliance School founder and Lead Teacher. “Our staff and students are excited that our work is being recognized by national media such as ‘20/20’ because part of our mission is to share our successful model with other schools and communities so that all students have the opportunity to grow up in safe and accepting environments.”
Visitors from across the nation and the world have come to Milwaukee to learn more about the Alliance School model, including guests from England, France, Canada, and school systems and universities in New York, Chicago, and California. Since opening in 2005, Alliance has been featured in People, Elle, the Advocate, and Teaching Tolerance. An additional story is forthcoming in a future issue of Time.
A viewing party for the Alliance School families and supporters will be held on Friday night in Milwaukee.
For additional information: The Alliance School website: www.allianceschool.net Promotional video from ABC: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/09/how-do-youexplain-an-eighth-grademurder/
