HOLYOKE — LightHouse Holyoke is in the process of acquiring the Sons of Zion building at 378 Maple St. to become its permanent home.

LightHouse Holyoke is a 501(c)(3), accredited school founded in 2015. It began a partnership with Holyoke Public Schools in 2017 and now works with four public districts along with private-pay families on a sliding scale. With a foundation in social justice, LightHouse offers a transformational educational experience for students in grades 6-12 who are seeking a new way to experience school.

Over the past eight years, LightHouse has supported nearly 150 students to not just graduate high school, but to redefine their relationship to learning. More than half were either already dropped out of high school or at high risk to not graduate.

LightHouse’s vision is to be a reflection of a world where young people are celebrated for their individual gifts and identities and where all people are invited to learn with each other, from each other, and for each other, guided by a shared goal of connection and responsibility. It believes that transformative education is a key to this future.

Current enrollment is 75 students; in the new building, LightHouse aims to increase enrollment to 100-120 students.

With the support of Mass Development, it has completed a robust feasibility study, including multiple environmental reports. It has initial drawings from an architect and is prepared to close on the four-lot parcel in January 2024. The current vision for two of the currently vacant lots is to create an urban food forest, open to the community. The cost estimate for the total project is approximately $4 million. Occupancy is expected by September 2025.

HOLYOKE — LightHouse Holyoke, Personalized Education for Teens, recently celebrated its annual Raise Your Glass event at Mill One at Open Square in Holyoke. LightHouse is a personalized middle- and high-school alternative now in its eighth year in downtown Holyoke.

LightHouse maintains an innovative collaboration with Holyoke Public Schools through Opportunity Academy, where students earn credit toward a Holyoke High School diploma in a program modeled after University Without Walls at UMass Amherst. The partnership allows a limited number of Holyoke Public School students to attend LightHouse along with privately enrolled students. LightHouse is accredited through the New England Assoc. of Schools and Colleges.

At the annual Raise Your Glass event, speakers included musician, performer, and LightHouse graduate Nehemiah Caradwyn; Liam Russell, a current privately enrolled student and graduating senior; and Damasco Santiago, father of Jhaydon Santiago, also graduating this year, who is enrolled through the LightHouse partnership with Holyoke Public Schools.

Santiago shared his personal story of growing up in Holyoke and unsuccessful experience with Holyoke Public Schools, including a moving account of significant challenges he overcame throughout his life. His story included watching his son, Jhaydon, encountering similar challenges as he navigated school.

“Then we found LightHouse,” Santiago said. “At first, I wasn’t so sure it would work for him. It was so different from regular school. Now I see how much it helped us. Jhaydon was able to learn at his own pace in his own way. Now he is already taking college classes, and he will graduate in June with a high-school diploma. LightHouse saved him.” Jhaydon is one of about 30 students who currently attend LightHouse through the school’s partnership with Holyoke Public Schools.

“We have a great working relationship with Holyoke Public Schools,” said Catherine Gobron, co-founder and executive director of LightHouse. “We are not aware of any partnership like this anywhere, between a public school district and a self-directed private school like ours.”