When she started working on the first day of the classes at the new Montgomery County R-II A.C.H.I.E.V.E. alternative school on Dec. 5, Dawn Linstruth accomplished a big feat.

Linstruth has now taught in every building in the R-II School District. She also worked as a special education teacher at the Jonesburg and Montgomery City elementary schools and spent several months at the Montgomery County middle and high schools this school year.

Now, Linstruth is looking to help the students set their sights on bigger and better things at the new school, which is located at 501 Niedergerke in Montgomery City.

“I think I would like to see all of these kids be successful in whatever that means for them,” Linstruth said. “I feel like it means different things for all of them, like graduation, for sure. They can go out and be productive. Some of them may want to go to college and some of them may want to go to trade school or beauty school. Whatever that success is for them is what I’m looking for.”

The school is having middle school students in the first month of classes before high school students will join them in January. Montgomery County Middle School assistant principal Josh Schwenck is the school’s administrative contact. The school also has teacher Irma Salamanca and R-II special education staff members Sara Salfrank, Amy Neill and Stacey Creech on its staff.

The district first made plans of having an alternative school in May. Board members approved a $420,000 purchase of the building to house the school.

“I like it,” Linstruth said. “I’m glad that the district has done this. I felt like this is a good thing to have for a lot of the kids. Not everybody fits into a box and can learn in a setting with all of those other people. They learn at different rates. I feel like it was a great choice for (the district) to make for our kids.”

Linstruth – who has been teaching for 16 years, including 10 with the R-II School District – came up with the name of the new school. It stands for Alternative Curriculum Helping Individuals Earn Victories in Education.

“I visited several other buildings,” Linstruth said. “I’ve been to Alpha Academy in Warrenton and I went to a couple of other alternative schools and programs around the area. They all had names that were very positive. They weren’t just alternative schools because I feel like there’s a negative connotation there. We’re not about negativity. We’re about watching these kids achieve something. I felt like that name kind of fit.”

Originally, A.C.H.I.E.V.E. was planned to be open for business in the beginning of 2024, but construction work was completed early enough for the school to start operating on Dec. 5. Linstruth said the first day of classes at the new school was a successful one.

“I was excited to see everybody here. I was glad that everybody came,” Linstruth said. “I think they all are still in a little bit of shock, trying to get used to a new environment. It’s a lot different than having all of the other kids from the building here. I think we can just keep building on those relationships. As we do that, they’ll get more comfortable with me and I’ll get comfortable with them so we can really start digging in and dealing with academics and social things that we need to work on and tackle.”