Alternative Education Center director resigns

~ Mike Dorris' resignation takes effect at the end of June.

Mike Dorris, the director of the Alternative Education Center in Cape Girardeau, will leave at the end of the school year.

Dorris submitted his resignation Thursday. It takes effect at the end of June.

The district advertised the position in the Southeast Missourian on Sunday.

The newspaper ad lists no application deadline. Cape Girardeau schools superintendent Dr. David Scala said that gives the district more flexibility in filling the position,

Dorris said Monday that he and his family are moving to Kalamazoo, Mich., because his wife, Sahar, was promoted in the health-care agency where she works. The couple has three daughters, ages 3, 7 and 12.

Dorris has directed the Alternative Education Center for the past five years, first at the May Greene School and for the past two years at the Schultz School at 101 S. Pacific St.

Prior to directing the center, he served for five years as a counselor at Schultz School when it served as the district's seventh-grade center.

Dorris, who grew up in Cape Girardeau and attended the local public schools, said he'll miss directing the alternative center.

"It is going to be a very sad day for me," he said.

"When I saw the job posted in the newspaper, it was very bittersweet," Dorris said. He plans to seek a new job in education when he relocates to Michigan.

"It is really hard to leave," said Dorris, who helped direct the growth of the alternative school, which now serves more than 100 students a day. During his tenure, the school has expanded from serving only high school students to teaching students in grades seven through 12. The alternative center also educates students serving short-term suspensions and runs an after-school program that allows students to make up coursework and catch up academically so they can graduate from high school.

All of the students served by the center are at-risk students, Dorris said. That includes students who have emotional or behavior issues, have lost interest in school, fallen behind in their academic studies or find it uncomfortable to remain in traditional school settings after becoming pregnant.

"There is no greater reward than to see kids that have made mistakes in the past to get themselves back on track," Dorris said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123