DC Oakes students are back in class with a new attitude

As schools across Colorado kick off the new school year, DC Oakes in Castle Rock has been in class now for more than a month. Its format is different than other schools.

Students must be at least 16 years old and they have to make the choice to go to school there. DC Oakes is an alternative high school in Douglas County.

Ninety-seven percent of the students there have been through some difficult life challenges like gangs, abusive relationships or truancy. They enter the school thirsting for change.

Student Megan Malone says she knew right off that this was a place she could learn to love herself.

Megan says, "I definitely came in here with my guard up and had a similar attitude as my old school and within weeks I immediately felt a change coming into school. The anxiety wasn't there. I wasn't nervous. I didn't care what anyone else thought. I wanted to be myself."

Student Caleb Gatonga knows just how Megan feels.  

Caleb says," They just make you want to be a better person. If that makes sense? I don't know how to explain it. It just kinda happens. You join Oakes and then you start to change."

Principal Derek Fleshman says his students mean the world to him.  And he couldn't be more proud to share in their lives and watch them grow.  

"They're coming looking to want to go to school. A lot of our kids have looked for ways to get out of school. And when they choose to come here, they choose a way to come to school, and that's powerful. They know there's going to be a smiling face to greet them," said Fleshman. "Whether it's the best day of their life or the worst, it's an incredible bond that our staff has and is able to form with these kids. Our kids are able to open up and be comfortable with who they are and where they've been."

Just ask Megan, "The biggest goal I set for myself coming to Oakes was that I want to be able to walk out of this school and be proud of myself and what I've accomplished."

And she is.