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ACES Academy moving into Alpena High School campus

ALPENA, Mich. — Students at ACES Academy in Alpena, or Alternative Choices for Educational Success, are enjoying their last days at the academy before the program moves into Alpena High School for the upcoming school year.

ACES is an educational opportunity for students who may not be successful in a typical high school setting.

“It was really to give students a choice in education, where they weren’t being necessarily successful in regular high school,” Alpena Public Schools Superintendent David Rabbideau said. “They have the opportunity to choose a different path.”

Rabbideau said a decline in enrollment led to this decision. Since 2008, there has been a 17 percent decline in enrollment in the district, and the trend is affecting the ACES program, as well. The district has reduced staff in recent years to cut down on cost, but the operational costs of the program are more than the revenue it generates.

“You can only cut so much,” Rabbideau said. “At some point you have to reinvent the program to take advantage of existing staff. ”

The district is looking to sell the building, unless they can find a new purpose for the property. Rabbideau says he recognizes the importance of alternate education, and wants the students to be able to keep their identity and culture.

“A school builds its own culture, so I want to protect that and respect that,” he said. “I’ve heard from people who have talked about how much ACES has meant to them in the past, so we want to be real careful to make sure to do that.”

Rabbideau believes they will better provide for ACES students from the high school. ACES will be in a wing of the Career and Technical School. This way, they can easily access the trade courses that so many of them take.