According the the philosophy statement of the William P. Kimmell Alternative school, it is the belief of the Altoona Area School District that the best possible education program be provided to all students. The school district also understands that the most effective learning may not be in a “traditional” setting. William P. Kimmel Alternative School has been established to meet the needs of these students.

“The reopening of our alternative school happened in the middle of the first semester of this year,” Assistant Principal David Bufalini said.

After the 2019-2020 school year, Kimmel was sold to a group that turned it into a private school.

 “While Kimmel was closed students that were in the alternative school were placed back into their home schools at AAHS,” Bufalini said.

Grade levels seventh-twelfth can attend Kimmel. There is a range from 20 to 30 students total. The number of students have gotten smaller than before because the district has made revisions.

“I’ve been working at Kimmel for 18 years. I worked as a daily and long-term sub at the junior high and high school,” math teacher Darla Detwiler said.

Detwiler usually has no more than ten students in one class. She also gets preperation periods and a lunch break during the day.

“I enjoy teaching and working with at-risk youth. Many of these students thrive at Kimmel because of the smaller class size and the more individualized instruction. I also like working with the staff at Kimmel. This faculty cares deeply about the education and well-being of all students here,” Detwiler said.

“A student is placed in alternative learning and after 45 days we check back in on the students’ grades, attendance and behavior. They have behavior goals they have to meet. Usually the goals are related to why the student is there in the first place. We are removing them from the environment where they developed the bad behaviors,” Bufalini said.

Students who attend Kimmel take core classes, a health class, physical education, daily counseling and the students can take an art elective which is online. 

“The teachers are tremendous. They will bend over backwards for the students. The students that are at Kimmel are there for behavior problems whether it is violence, bad language, ex. that has been repeated multiple times. Teachers meet the students halfway in order to  meet their goals,” Buffalini said.

There are a handful of teachers who work at Kimmel including English teacher Steve Oswalt, reading teacher Tom Smith, math teacher Darla Detwiler, social studies teacher Jesse Betar, special education teacher Ryan Stefan and science teacher Chris Woloszykl.

“I have been teaching at Kimmel for almost five years now. It takes a strong person to be in this position. It is also my twenty-fifth year teaching in total,” English teacher Steve Oswalt said.

Oswalt works first through fifth period at Kimmel and comes to Altoona High school for sixth through eighth period to teach.

“The job became available five years ago. The rotation was constant. They were putting first year teachers in there; they needed people with experience. I was also getting overwhelmed with 200 students. There were fewer students there which was better for me,” Oswalt said.

 Oswalt has been teaching 25 years and plans on retiring within the next year.

“Alternative students have a shorter day than the Altoona School District. A van or bus drops them off at Kimmel around 7:30 a.m. and the students’ return to Altoona school at 2:45 p.m. If they are within walking distance of the school, they have the option to walk,” Bufalini said.