By Tyler Dahlgren

The Single-Wide

The home blends right in. Sitting on a quiet corner in the heart of town, it's a well-kempt and unassuming structure that for many years served as the home for Columbus Public Schools’ Pathways program.

“It might not look like much to people passing by, but we loved our space before,” said assistant director of student services Sara Colford. “It was just a bit cramped.”

The district did great things in its old digs, but the breadth of their services were impacted by a sheer lack of space. The Pathways program, for example, was primarily serving seniors and “super” seniors. Every once in a while a junior would join the fray, but district leadership was seeing a gap.

“We were asking ourselves, ‘What do we do with those ninth and tenth-graders who could stand to benefit from some non-traditional support?’” said Colford, who expanded further on what non-traditional education is. “What’s non-traditional about non-traditional? Everything. It’s the flexibility to meet students’ needs by being non-traditional in every sense of the word.”

They had ideas. Their ideas had tremendous potential. They just didn’t have the space.

“We had a really watered down program, because we were basically getting kids at the 11th hour,” said superintendent Dr. Chip Kay. “There’s no other way to put it.”

There were non-traditional programs operating across the district, but everything was scattered and there was an unavoidable lack of fluidity. They were sending students elsewhere to receive services, to ESU 7 and to Boys Town’s Duncan Day School a dozen miles down the road. Columbus had also added a Rule 17 program, meaning no students are to be expelled from the district.

“We ended up with students with really no place to go,” said Kay. “We were basically trying to develop an independent learning program for kids with no support.”

It’s a well-struck seven-iron from their old headquarters to the building that previously housed the CPS administration. When it was announced that the district offices would be moving, a lightbulb went off. 

They had their space.

The building was repurposed, reimagined, and reintroduced as the Columbus Public Schools Non-Traditional Learning and Support Center. The headquarters for CPS’s Pathways, Rule 17, and the recently-launched Compass Academy, the building is now home to 50 students receiving an array of innovative services.

“It’s been transformational,” Kay said of the facility, which has an allure not commonly seen in most non-traditional education settings. “It’s really beneficial when you have something that doesn’t look like an afterthought. Where do most alternative programs end up? They end up in the old warehouse, they end up in the old garage, and the kids feel that. Walking inside this facility immediately sends a message that these kids are very important. What we do is very important. Immediately, the kids realize there’s been an investment made to be successful.”

It’s a Tuesday morning, and the center is bustling with activity. Everything that’s done in here is intentional, including the SEL-infused game of Blackjack that’s causing a laughter-filled stir in the common-area.

“We’re not wasting their time,” Colford said. “We’re not asking them to do things just to do them. It’s really about getting the students to their end goal. And then they see the value of that, the value of those core skills we’re focusing on, and they’re all in.”

The building is great, exactly what they’d hoped for. But the teachers here, Kay said, are the hook. There are 13 staff members in the center. They serve 25 students in the morning and 25 more in the afternoon. They’re passionate and creative and big-hearted, the type of educators who deserve to work their magic in surroundings like this.

“When our kids meet the teachers, develop one-on-one relationships and see the investment they have made in their success, that creates motivation,a sense of accomplishment and a pride in completing things,” said Kay. “I don’t think our program could be successful with just a great facility. You have to put great people in it, and ours is going to work because we have both right now.”

The NTLSC is unique in a handful of ways. Kay said they’re fortunate to have a licensed mental health practitioner in Sarah Papa on site.

“The second thing that’s a little unique is that our students who are receiving community services, those services are welcome to come in here and provide them to the student,” Kay explained. “We have the space for them to do that.”

They also have space for a McKinney-Vento closet, filled with supplies, resources and clothes, and a food pantry on-site. It’s all about setting their students up for success, and there’s multiple layers of supports.

Colford has a one-on-one meeting and orientation with every new student and their families. Most of the students walk away eager to begin, a testament to the positive energy that radiates throughout the building.

“I can’t say enough about Sara’s leadership in getting this going,” Kay said. “It was no small undertaking, because you couldn’t just say, ‘We’re going to do this like School X.’ We had to develop a program for Columbus Public Schools.”

Collaboratively, they did exactly that.

“We had a vision for the programs,” Kay said. “As this space became available and then transformed, we began to expand our vision a little bit.”

What they’ve brought to life in Columbus is an epicenter for non-traditional education, and the Discoverers built it with their own blueprint.

“The students want to be here,” Colford said. “This is their school.”

Mrs. Ek’s Classroom

Dr. Kay believes the Non-Traditional Learning and Support Center very well may be the “sweetest building in the district.” Contrary to common stereotypes, it’s not a place filled with behavior problems and juvenile delinquency.

“That’s not what our non-traditional program’s about, and we need to break that stereotype,” he said.

A good way to bust that narrative is to take a step into Speech teacher Kim Ek’s classroom. In her first “stint” with CPS, Ek taught for 32 years, all in the non-traditional sphere. After a two-year retirement she returned, invigorated and excited about the new facility.

It was a long time coming, she said, and a dream come true.

“Oh, it’s huge,” Ek said. “It’s huge for the high school, because these students were scattered all over the place and trying to help them was difficult. Having them all here, we can meet their needs a little better. This district has always been supportive of the non-traditional student. I guess that’s why I stuck around for so long, because I love this work and these students.”

The subject matter in Ek’s classroom can be daunting. Public speaking often is.

“Imagine standing in front of 25 kids trying to speak English and you know you don’t know it very well, but they get up and they do it,” Ek said. “They’re nervous, nervous, nervous, but they do it. The kids can do hard things, and they’re seeing that it’s their work that gets them those certificates.”

Those certificates are cause for celebration. In Ek’s classroom, every accomplishment is celebrated, no matter how big or small.

“As soon as they’re done with their speech, I’m going down there saying, ‘So-and-so’s done! They got their speech done!’,” she said.

From there, word spreads fast.

“As soon as a student accomplishes something, we put it out there and the entire staff knows right away,” Colford said. “The next time you see that student, you give them a high-five and make space on the wall for their certificate.”

When Ek gets a free minute, you can usually find her participating in an SEL activity with a big smile on her face. She has an uncanny ability to build relationships, and so far this year she’s already accomplished the impossible.

“I never thought in my career I would hear students ask, ‘When is it my turn to take Speech?’” Colford laughed. “We’re hearing that now, and it’s exciting. It’s been so great to have Mrs. Ek here. Not only does she have a passion for our non-traditional education students, but she is a master at developing relationships.”

If you feel like you’re sensing a theme, you’re not wrong. In here, relationships are placed at a premium. There's an incredible story at every turn.

Just wait until you meet Jose Rodriguez-Navas.

Jose’s Story

This facility, its interior hollowed out and meticulously reimagined to accommodate the needs of three programs that have meant so much to Columbus Public Schools, was built for students like Jose.

For Rodriguez-Navas, Columbus is home. A Discoverer since the days he and his friends were playing Tag on the playground in Kindergarten, Jose had been an “okay” student through the years. Admittedly, academics weren’t always at the top of his priority list. That changed near the end of his junior year, when he and his girlfriend Alayna received quite a surprise.

They had a baby on the way, due in late December of Jose’s senior year. That priority list needed to be shuffled, immediately.

“I kind of had to grow up fast,” Rodriguez-Navas said. “I had to get my life together, and back then I didn’t really worry too much about school or the future. I realized, ‘Oh wow, I really have to focus on my stuff.”

The couple’s son, Santiago, came on New Year’s Day. He was the first baby born in Columbus in 2026. The local paper featured Santiago and the hospital gifted the new parents a year’s supply of diapers. His parents were overjoyed and, at the same time, determined to ensure that their next steps were in the best interest of their new baby boy.

Jose landed a job at Cargill in March, basically the minute he turned 18. School, and life as he knew it, landed on the backburners. He worked hard, herding cattle and spending the majority of his time out in the fields.

“I was able to get a house and pay the bills,” Rodriguez-Navas said.

He didn’t give up on a diploma, but this new life and fatherhood and everything it entails came on fast and the days were piling up even faster. Thankfully, Jose’s school district didn’t give up on him either.

“Jose is a student who has all the right things inside of him to be an incredible success,” said Kay. “Unfortunately, if we were to say that traditional school is the only way a kid can be successful, Jose could have become a statistic, because of the other pressures in his life. He could have been a student who said, ‘I can’t possibly do it in a regular school day. I can’t be here. I have to drop out and I have to move on.’”

Instead, Jose enrolled in the CPS Pathways program, the same one that used to operate out of that modestly manufactured home on the corner of Fairacres Road and 26th Avenue. Now, the program flourishes inside the Non-Traditional Learning and Support Center. Students like Jose are flourishing, too.

“Without the school’s support, I wouldn’t have known what to do,” said Rodriguez-Navas. “Honestly, I probably would have had to drop out, just focus on getting a full-time job.”

Fast forward a few months, and he’s a testament to the power of non-traditional education. That power is life-changing. Just ask Jose, who smiles any time there’s talk of a diploma. He’s close, and he’s also in line for a promotion at work that will come with health insurance.

“I’m glad this building exists, because it’s helping me build a life,” he said. “I’m almost done, and it’s helping me get done faster.”

Jose’s day-to-day life is still a grind, but he’s not navigating it alone. He comes in around 8:45 each morning, departing his house and his little son the moment Alayna gets home from her shift at Scooter’s.

“I bother the teachers for a few hours, get my stuff done and then I’m at work by two,” he said with a lighthearted laugh.

His perspective, on life and on his own education, shifted out of necessity. He made an effort to do all the things grown-ups have to do, surrounding himself with positive influences and people who he knows will be in his corner. At his new school, he found there is no shortage of caring, devoted educators. They quickly became part of his foundation. Part of his story.

“All of the teachers here have helped me so much,” Rodriguez-Navas said. “I can’t just name one. I have to say they all helped me reach where I am. I’ve come so far, and they give me so much motivation.”

Everything Jose does, from now until forever, is for his son. He leans into that, especially when the days feel long and the duties demanding. He cherishes his time at home, the stroller walks and the family movie nights, and he looks forward to his mornings.

“Our program here is going to give Jose the opportunity to make a great decision now that he’s going to benefit from five, 10, 20 years from now,” said Kay. “There’s an incredible sense of accomplishment, because Jose isn’t the only one we have in the building. We’re serving 50 students in our Non-Traditional Learning and Support Center. Having this facility affords the uniqueness for each student, because their needs are all different. We’re able to tailor our services to the student.”

Jose said that the future, once clouded in uncertainty, is still a little bit scary. Mostly though, it’s exciting. He plans to stay on at Cargill, and has goals of becoming a welder or an electrician.

“Like any program within a school district, our ultimate goal is to remove the ceiling for any student,” said Kay. “And without a high school diploma, there’s a ceiling. There are a lot of jobs you can do and do well, but there’s a ceiling.”

Jose will meet the requirements to get into trade school, thanks to his time here.

“Getting a diploma, that’s going to feel really good,” Rodriguez-Navas said.

It’ll feel good, alright. For Jose and for all the people who’ve been a part of his story.

“I’m very proud of Jose,” said Colford. “He’s just a prime example of breaking down barriers, of what non-traditional education is all about.”

On December 4th, the district will hold a graduation ceremony for its Compass Academy students at its new administration building. 

Jose has that day circled on his calendar, you can be sure of it. Dr. Kay does, too.

“I can’t wait to hand you a diploma, Jose."