The Knox County Learning Center may be considered a “second chance,” an opportunity for students who were unsuccessful in a traditional setting to regain confidence and motivation through an alternative approach. One-on-one tutoring ensures that students stay on track and are completely immersed in the given material, while at the same time maintaining appropriate behavior. A unique, internet-based curriculum not only contributes to the students becoming technologically savvy, but includes various courses including life skills, in which students must demonstrate knowledge regarding the daily do’s and don’ts of adult life.
The Center also focuses on reintegration. The ultimate objectives of the program are to rehabilitate students so that they may reenter the county school environment with their peers, and also society as mature and well-equipped adults. This immense task is achieved with the help of the Knox County community. Because many of the students benefit from counseling, programs like the Freedom Center and Behavioral Healthcare Partners offer their services, which is indispensable for an underfunded school district.
Despite limited resources, The Center helps students by simultaneously educating them, giving them a supportive environment, and preparing them to reintegrate into the larger Knox County community. One student, on his final day of course work, turned to an administrator on his way out and reassured her: “I’ll come and visit every once in awhile.” This simple statement validates the sense of belonging that he and other students are given at the Knox County Learning Center, displaying its success as an institution.
We work with basically every agency, so we have all these support people in and out of our building because a lot of our kids need some form of counseling. So, although we’re kind of a stand alone unit, we do have a lot of support from the community.
– Lauren Downes, administrator at The Knox County Learning Center
Photo: Programs in the community work to give the classrooms necessary upgrades. Courtesy Pam Schehl of the Mount Vernon News
Further Reading:
Knox County Educational Service Center
Frederick N. Lorey, History of Knox County, Ohio 1876 – 1976. Chapter XIV, “Education”
Mount Vernon News – The Learning Center
Written by Caroline Welch (’19) and Willa Moore (’19).
Life Along the Kokosing - An Exploration of Knox County 
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