This is a further edited version of the article that appeared in the January 20, 2010 print addition. The print staff would like to clarify that Option Magnet students are not home-schooled students. They are also not Community High School students. We apologize for any confusion.

Junior Cathlin Sullivan attends only one class at Community High, but she is not simply dual-enrolled. She attends classes at Pioneer, but would have to get a guest pass if she wanted to go to a school dance. She takes online classes at home, but she isn’t homeschooled.

Sullivan is in the Options Magnet, a Community High-based program for high-school students who want to take at least half of their classes in a “non-traditional format,” meaning community resources or online. They receive an AAPS diploma at the end of their four years, but are able to create a personalized education plan.

Susette Jaquette, Options Magnet coordinator, explains that the program stemmed from Community Resource Extension, but “it became the Options program, because no one knew what CRE stood for.”

The Options Magnet allows students to take core classes in the Ann Arbor Public Schools, but have more control over their educational experience. Options students have gained in numbers over the years, now totaling in 36 students.

For Sullivan, Options turned out to be a good second choice to being a full-time Community student. At first, she wasn’t that upset when she did not get in; her older sister had shared the experience, and Sullivan was prepared.

“It’s just a school,” she said, and resigned to attending Pioneer. However, she soon became unsatisfied. “I don’t think I figured out how upset I was until I started going to Pioneer,” she said. While Sullivan liked some aspects of the school, she felt that it was in many ways holding her back. Having previously attended Ann Arbor Open, she was used to more individualized learning. It especially bothered her that she had to take some required classes that she didn’t think she would benefit from. She tried to test out of English 10 in order to have more challenging coursework, but found that the testing-out procedure was pretty similar to actually taking the class. “They basically just hand you the syllabus and make you do all the work,” she said. “That was the last straw.”

For her, Options has turned out to be a way to have the Community High experience, maintain her ties to Pioneer, and still have the flexibility in her schedule to get out of school at 10:46 two days a week. Sullivan thinks the Options Magnet has affected her positively. “I’ve learned that I am really self-motivated,” she said. “You have to actually want to get stuff done.”

She does still feel a little unclear on some aspects of the program—especially when it comes to explaining it to others. Many people just assume that she is a homeschooler.

“But I hate explaining it,” she said, “because I also don’t know what it is.” Sullivan would like to have more interaction with other Options students, to have a sort of support system. “I don’t know anyone else in the Options program,” she said, laughing.

One of those people she doesn’t know is sophomore Celisa Gutierrez. Gutierrez joined the Options Magnet this year, after having been homeschooled for a while. “Everything was just getting a little crazy,” she said. Gutierrez was concerned about not having enough structure — but she did not want to attend school full time.

“I like the idea of having the best of both worlds,” she said, also noting that she appreciated that the Options Magnet was free.

Gutierrez attends two classes at Community — Spanish IV and World Lit, then goes home and does online classes. She also has a science CR taught by a college student who is studying to become a teacher.

Unlike Sullivan, Gutierrez would not drop the Options Magnet if offered a spot at Community. “I like being in school and I like being homeschooled,” she said.

Jaquette would like for homeschoolers to be able to pick the level of involvement they want in the Ann Arbor Public Schools. “My question is, why are homeschoolers not allowed to take [core] classes through regular public schools?” she said. “I think it’s really discriminatory; I’m not sure it would hold up in court.”

Jaquette says that there is no legitimate reason to exclude homeschoolers from core classes, while allowing them to take electives. In fact, the district would gain money by expanding the Options Magnet, because it would get more students involved in the public schools. The superintendent has even mentioned this as a way to combat the budget cuts caused by the millage not having passed.

Jaquette would like to see public schools as places where students can take as many or as few classes as they like, receiving a diploma if they complete the requirements. But for many students, Options is a good compromise until that happens.

“The purpose of the Options Magnet is to provide students with an alternative to scheduling all their classes at their local school with the intent that their alternative schedule will allow them to reach the highest achievement level possible.” -The Options Magnet Mission Statement