27 May 2025

The Delta Program – An Alternative Education in State College: A History

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Part I

After moving to State College in 2019, I began my senior year of high school during the fall of 2021. I left the entirely online boarding school that I had been attending during the COVID-19 pandemic and was excited to be in a classroom again. When deciding what school to attend for my final year of high school I was faced with the decision of attending the large State College Area High School, or the smaller program across the street: the Delta Program. The unique structure of the Delta Program allows and encourages students to take responsibility for their own education. It teaches students to advocate for themselves through democratic governance as well as being an active participant in the broader community. Since its founding in the early 1970s, the Delta Program has changed in terms of student population, location, and even name, but the aspects of the program that have drawn students, parents, and teachers to it for over 50 years have remained. Today the Delta Program and the members of its community face another shift in its history as it changes from a program connected to State College Area High School to two independent schools within the State College Area School District.

Program Creation History 

Founded in 1974, the Delta Program was created as an alternative educational option for State College Area High School students.  In 1973 a committee consisting of teachers, students, and community members was formed by the State College Area School Board to outline the budget, structure, and principles of a potential alternative school, as well as assess community response. This committee presented the school board with an outline for the Alternative Program. In 1974 the Program opened to 135 students, grades nine to twelve, in the College Heights school building with committee member Charles Boyd as the first director. In 1993 the name of the Alternative Program was changed to the Delta Program. Delta means ‘change’ and since its opening the Delta Program has changed in several ways. In 1981 The Delta Program moved from College Heights to the Fairmount School Building in the historic Highlands district. In 1982 it expanded to allow seventh and eighth graders; in 2014 Delta expanded again to allow fifth and sixth graders. In 2019 it changed buildings, moving from the Highlands to across the street from the new State College Area High School.  Despite these changes, the key principles that Delta was founded on have remained stable over the years. These virtues make Delta a unique and valuable educational experience.

The Delta Program was created as an alternative to larger and more traditional schools in the area. In the 1973 Final Report of a Feasibility Study presented by The Alternative Year-Round School Committee this idea was explored. The Alternative Program was created to offer students a chance to be more involved with the community. It was also founded on the idea that parents and community members should be involved in their students’ educational journeys. This idea was well liked by parents and teachers with 82% of the 204 instructors and 82% of 316 parents surveyed in 1973 in favor of the concept of a more collaborative approach to education.

Originally the Alternative Program was a year-round program which provided students and parents with more flexibility with their schedules. Of over 2,700 students from grades 7 to 12 surveyed by the Alternative School Committee 71% voiced that they were in favor of having a more flexible school schedule. Delta instructor Shawn Arnold, who teaches a class on Delta history, comments on the schedule of the initial program: “[Delta’s founders] did have a year-round structure initially. In fact, they didn’t necessarily abide by the conventional school day. There were, if you look at some of the old handbooks of classes, there were…some classes that were offered once a week in the evening. The way it was structured some people brought in food, and it was kind of a communal learning time where they had an intense class on something in the evening and then they may not meet in that class again for a couple of weeks.” 

The 1974 Final Report of Implementation Details presented to the State College Area District School Board by The Alternative Program Steering Committee lists the philosophy and curricular goals of the Delta Program. According to The Final Report, Delta aims to be a small program with a maximum of 200 students. The governing of the program is to be based on “a cooperative decision-making process involving parents, teachers, community members, and students will be used to encourage students to assume responsibility for the development of their educational programs.” 

The eight goals of the curriculum outlined by the committee cover the following areas: cognitive, perceptual, physical, aesthetic, humanistic, problem solving, a sense of belonging to the world, career education, dealing with society, and lifetime learning. Some of these goals are not unique to Delta, such as cognitive areas which include key features of any curriculum like reading, writing, math, and science skills. However some of the other areas of focus are more distinctive, such as: perceptual, physical, and aesthetic areas which includes aesthetic appreciation, creative self-awareness, and physical coordination.  

The Free School Movement 

The Free School Movement brought together students, teachers, and parents feeling disenchanted with the public school system during the 1960s and 1970s. The popularity of free schools rose alongside other countercultural movements during the same period which critiqued other American institutions—a prominent example being the Civil Rights Movement] For some, this disenchantment came from a desire to break away from the standard curriculum; for others, they felt as though students were being abandoned and left behind to fail in the current educational system. This was a movement to reform schools by creating entirely new institutions. It is difficult to say how many free schools were created during this time period because of how loosely they were defined. Some commenters estimate that there were 400 free schools; while others estimate 2,000 plus free schools established. 

Within the Free School Movement there were debates about should or should not be considered a free school. There were a variety of schooling systems that considered themselves to be a part of the Free School Movement. Many free schools, called Summerhillean schools, were inspired by the Summerhill boarding school created by A.S. Neill in 1921. Neill rejected the idea that adults should act as and behave as ultimate authority figures in education. Instead, Neill believed that children should be empowered to make their own decisions. There were free schools founded in large part by students who wanted more autonomy in their lives and more authority over their education. These schools were often created by students and adults who participated in, or were sympathetic to the Civil Rights Movement, women’s rights movement, and the anti-Vietnam War movement.

Another type of free school were institutions for minority students whose needs were not met being at public schools. The aim of these schools was to build the confidence of young people who might have been devalued during their time at public school and were on the verge of dropping out. These schools often subsidized tuition or did not charge tuition at all. 

Despite these differences, many free schools, also known as alternative schools, had some shared values and practices. Many free schools included student input in governance, had small class sizes, and used instructors from the community who were not strictly teachers. They also emphasized the importance of parent involvement. They believed that students were naturally curious and, if given the opportunity, would be highly self-motivated.

Free School Movement Values and Practices Applied in the Delta Program 

Many of the principles that the Delta Program were founded on appear to be inspired by the Free School Movement. Free School proponent Stuart Rosenfield discusses characteristics of the Free School Movement in his article “Reflections on the Free School Movement” in which he writes: “[b]ecause of the variety among free schools and the heterogeneity of their constituencies it is hard to even define free schools. (You might say that asking what a free school is like asking what jazz is. You just know.) The definitions of free schools suggested by Allen Graubard and [Johnathan] Kozol therefore included only very general characteristics such as size (small), teacher requirements (proficiency rather than credentials), governance (democratic, informal, participatory), and freedom (curricular, time, and space).”

The Delta Program embodies several of these characteristics especially the traits of small size, governance, and freedom. 

The Delta Program is small in size with a total of 331 students as of 2024. Delta has always aimed to be a small program with the maximum number of students intended to be 200, according to the 1974 Final Report of Implementation Details. Free school advocate Allen Graubard wrote in his 1972 journal article “The Free School Movement” about enrollment numbers of free schools. The majority of free schools had less than forty students because as Graubard explains “[m]any free school people value the idea that everyone in the school knows everyone fairly well; that staff can truly relate to each other and to all the children, thus avoiding the impersonality associated with mass education institutions.” While Delta’s population far exceeds the forty-student threshold, the intimate environment that Graubard highlights is seen in Delta and strengthened through its community building efforts.

The relationship between students and teachers is a valued aspect of Delta’s culture. This relationship comes partially from an idea often seen in Summerhillean schools of the Free School Movement that children and adults should be treated as equals and that respect was paramount in educational spaces. In “A.S Neill on Democratic Authority: A Lesson from Summerhill” John Darling reflects on the beliefs of Summerhill’s founder: “The view Neill was propounding was that children have rights in exactly the same way as adults…The fact of childhood affects neither the right nor the obligation to respect the right.”

 At the Delta Program this mutual respect is immediately made apparent to incoming students or visitors as students call their teachers as well as staff by their first names. While being on a first name basis is one way to help students feel more respected it is the attitudes and behavior of the teachers that truly encourage a more connected and conversational environment. Former Delta teacher Gary Masquelier explains the relationship between students and teachers saying: “Instead of being like a sage on the stage, the teacher isn’t one who talks down to the students and makes them take notes of their vision. Students bring their own vision.” Delta alum Adaunis Smith provides a student perspective on how the dynamic between Delta teachers and students is different from a traditional school. “You have a lot more freedom to talk to the teachers, talk about your situations to them than you would in a regular school,” Smith remarks. “You know where that hierarchy and that power balance between teacher and student is a lot more on display.”

The Delta Program practices student involvement in many ways, encouraging students to be engaged and connected with the policies and practices of the program. There are all-school meetings where students come together to discuss current events within the Delta community. Students also discuss and make decisions about Delta’s expectations and format during these meetings. “The Delta High Program Handbook”, the guide for Delta Program students, includes several sections created by students at all school meetings on issues dealing with the consequences for misbehavior, the rights and expectations for students, and dress code. 

Additionally, each student is in a clump which is similar to a homeroom. As described in the “Delta Handbook” clumps meet once a week to discuss concerns, ideas, and activities. Each clump has an elected representative that speaks on behalf of their peers. These representatives are members of Delta’s advisory council which advises and makes recommendations to the director who is a non-voting member of the council. The council votes on any number of subjects that have an impact on the school lives of Delta students. Examples of such subjects are “scheduling, budgets, curriculum, school environment” and others.

Giving students this responsibility has led to them taking the initiative to be better community members. A 1994 article gives one example of how Delta students have made an effort to have a positive impact on the local area. This article, written by Beth Fetterman and titled “School to Fast, Elevate Community Awareness of World Hunger” describes how three Delta students organized a fast to fulfill their community service requirements. Fetterman explains the fundraising process, writing that “[b]y fasting tomorrow for as long as possible and then donating the money that would have been used for meals to the Oxfam Committee for Famine Relief, students from the Delta Program hope to help others know what it is like to be hungry.”

Former Delta teacher Masquelier affirms this feature of student citizenship when describing Delta’s students’ decision to require thirty hours of community service. “There used to be a ten-hour community service requirement,” Masquelier explains, “and students changed that to thirty hours. That was a student incentive. Advisory Council started discussing it and said that if the high school at the time had a ten hour community service requirement “how is that a distinction for us? Let’s show that we really want to be involved in the community’.”

Parents are highly encouraged to be active in the Delta community and be a part of the decision making regarding their children’s education. Graubard remarks in “The Free School Movement” that central to this “progressive school reform spirit, we find more emphasis on participation in the “freedom” notion, the idea that parents and students should have a much greater part in all aspects of educational institutions.” Parents of students in the Delta Program are directly involved in their child’s educational plan and are a part of their students advising team. Advising teams are made up of a student’s parents or guardians and a staff clump leader. This team helps to guide students during their time at Delta. Advising team meetings provide time for students to explore their goals, motivations, challenges, progress, and future with a support system. Parents, alongside students, also have the opportunity to be a part of the hiring process for new Delta staff by being on hiring committees. Additionally, while students make up the majority of Delta’s Advisory Council with fourteen total seats, parents have three seats. In the ”Delta Handbook,” a passage in the section for parents reads: “[t]he quality and variety of educational experiences presented to students is enhanced by parental participation in school governance. Parents/guardians are members of the Advisory Council and various other committees. The Delta Program thrives when parents/guardians take active roles as volunteers, teachers, committee members, and resource people.”

Curricular freedom for students is a central tenet of the Free School Movement, and this feature remains in the Delta Program. Students have the opportunity to complete independent contracts which are described in the “Delta Handbook” as “an opportunity for a student to learn with some of the many talented, skilled, and informed people in our community, and to experience a new and often exciting way of learning.” Independent contracts allow students to earn credits that count towards their graduation while pursuing a topic that interests them. The contracts require the student to construct their own course and be responsible for identifying a professional in their area of study, deciding what the goals they aim to meet, what resources they will require, how many credits the contract will be worth, and if they will receive a pass/fail grade or a letter grade.

Some Free School Movement advocates believe that it is impossible for schools that are a part of the public school system to truly embody the core values seen in independent free schools. Jonathan Kozol in his 1972 book Free Schools writes that “[n]o matter how sophisticated or inventive these ‘alternatives within the system’ may contrive to be, they nonetheless must continue to provide, within a single package: custodial functions, indoctrinational functions, credentializing, labeling and grading services, along with more purely educational functions such as skill training.” Kozol contends that “free” or “alternative” schools that remain part of the public school system, such as the Delta Program’s link with the State College Area High School, are necessarily compromised, pedagogically and in practical terms, by this broader institutional arrangement.

Sources

Zachariah Hamer-Lang was raised in the Midwest before moving alongside his family to State College in 2019. He attended the Delta Program during the 2021-2022 school year for his final year of high school. He is currently an undergraduate history major at The Pennsylvania State University with a sociology minor set to graduate in 2026. After graduating he hopes to go on to graduate school and one day become a professor of history. He enjoys spending time with his cat, reading horror novels and watching scary movies, and spending time outside. 

To get in touch with Zach reach out to zhamlan20@gmail.com.