Project Description
(P) 410.398.6900
(F) 410.398.7322
- 3035 Singerly Road
Elkton, MD 21921
Contact Us
Cecil Alternative Program
Joe Avampato – Program Director
Joe Avampato is a certified special education teacher who is currently pursuing his master’s in leadership in teaching with an administrator certification. Joe holds a certification in secondary special education and secondary social studies. He received his BA in History from the University of Delaware. Joe joined the High Road team in 2011 as a classroom teacher at the High Road School of Perryville and has since served in administrative roles in Baltimore City, Harford County, Anne Arundel County, and now Cecil County. Joe seeks to pair social emotional learning with appropriate academic interventions in a highly structured setting. Joe is a musician and huge music fan, who is frequently found on weekends performing in the Baltimore area.
Michael Mertz is a special educator who is currently pursuing his Masters in Special Education. He graduated from Fairfield University with a Bachelor of the Arts degree in 2004, and has worked in special and alternative education settings over the last 13 years. Mr. Mertz has worked in several different schools including the Glen Mills School for Boys, The Daniel Boone Transitional School in Northern Philadelphia, Simon Gratz High School in Northern Philadelphia, and started as a teacher with Catapult Learning at our Kent County Maryland location in 2013. This is his first year in an Associate Director position in the Cecil County School. Mr. Mertz believes that all students have the ability and capability to be successful. Through accountable, personalized, individual, rigorous academic and behavioral interventions teachers are able to bring out the best in the students they service. Despite being an advocate for the school and our students, Mr. Mertz is a lifelong football fan. He can usually be found watching, playing, or coaching the sport he grew up playing in and around the area.
Cecil Alternative Program
The Cecil Alternative Program (CAP) is a 45-day IAEP—Interim Alternative Education Program—for students in Cecil County with behavioral issues who require additional supports in order to be successful. Teachers and related service providers in this program mirror a student’s home school by administering the same educational and social-emotional interventions, but they do so in a more therapeutic and highly structured environment.
At CAP, the behavioral/counseling component is the primary focus and is based on an individual and school-wide behavior management system with built-in incentives and rewards for positive behavior. In accordance with this, students have access to individual counseling outside of their regularly scheduled services when needed. By offering a small classroom environment, with a high teacher-to-student ratio and one-to-one counseling services, this program allows students the ability to quickly transition back to their home school. Future progress and success are ensured through a transitional track once the students return to the public school.