About Our Program

 

Purpose

TLC provides a nurturing environment for at-promise middle and high school students from all Fayette County Public Middle and High Schools via intentional mentoring, relationships, and college/career-focused exploration.

Mission

To empower each member of our learning community to seek, seize, and sustain opportunities, achieve at high levels, and graduate life ready, prepared to lead productive and meaningful lives. We accomplish this by living out our core values of empathy, expectations, exploration, and empowerment.

Vision

Each member of our leaning community is academically prepared, college and career ready, civically engaged, culturally competent, and equipped for the future. 

Population

We serve a diverse group of 200 students in grades 8-12 who are not experiencing success at the traditional middle and high schools in Fayette County, due to academic, social, and emotional challenges. Our students experience these challenges for a variety of reasons including but not limited to:

• Students who have experienced or are experiencing trauma and or mental health struggles.
• Non-traditional learners.
• Students that struggle to connect socially and emotionally with peers and staff.
• Neurodivergent students. 
• Trans-gender students and or students questioning their gender identity and or sexual orientation.

Admissions

The Learning Center is an application-based program. Students are referred to us through teachers, counselors, parents, therapists, and administrators due to:

• Trauma and or mental health issues
• Disengagement
• Internalizing behaviors
• Truancy
• Task avoidance
• Failing grades
• Credit deficiency 

Once the famiy and a counselor have submitted an application, we review each application as a team. Normally, we receive approximately 120 applications each year and accept approximately 70 new students. Most of our students are accepted in August, but based on our enrollment numbers, we will accept another round of students in January. 

Wrap Around Services

TLC is an integral program that allows our staff to support the individual needs of each student through:

• Community partnerships and exploration
• Focus on social and emotional health
• Targeted mentoring through daily Advisory
• High academic, behavioral, social and emotional expectations
• Focus on employability 
• Enrichment and extension 
• Use of restorative practices
• Smaller class sizes
• Project-based learning (PBL)

Life Readiness

Our ultimate goal at TLC is to empower students to be "life ready" when they graduate from high school. Our essential wrap-around services allow our school to provide an array of diverse opportunities for each of our students that they would not be afforded at their traditional high school. These experiences change the lives of our students and in addition have a positive impact on the surrounding community.  

Notoriety

• Awarded "Alternative School of Distinction" by the KDE for multiple yearts, including the 2025-2026 school year. Only six out of 219 alternative programs in the state of Kentucky were honored for this distinction.
• 2019 State Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) champions.
• 2024 Economic Development Champions (utilizing minority, women, and veteran-owned business in our school purchasing).