All About the History of Our School...

Joaquin P. Torres Alternate School was initially established as an alternative school to provide academic and behavior modification supports to the most at-risk of Guam’s public middle and high school students. Prior to 2002, JP Torres, formerly known as Planned Alternative Center for Education (PACE) was situated on another school campus—the current Oceanview Middle School, located in the village of Agat.

In 2002, under a new name—Joaquin P. Torres Alternative School (JP Torres, or JPTAS) moved to present campus grounds, after having converted from an elementary school to the alternative secondary school. Since then, JP Torres Alternative School absorbed those students who faced disciplinary actions from their district home schools. Students whose behavior or actions were frequent and were deemed a detriment to themselves and others in the regular school setting were brought toward a Disciplinary Advisory Council (DAC).

Appropriate consequences were determined by the DAC and depending on the panel’s decision, students could be refereed to JP Torres under two possible terms: Re-Direction Placement (15-45 school days) and Long Term Placement (45-180 school days). Although the school was built on the promise of student success, it was focused on behavior modification and reform.

In SY 2015-2016, the Superintendent of Education introduced a new model of JP Torres Alternate School, one that would no longer be a school of behavioral reform and would no longer accept other schools’ most at-risk of students. It became an institution for credit-recovery, where students who were lacking twelve or more credits could come to receive the appropriate interventions and supports needed to succeed. JP Torres Alternative School was established to offer students a second chance.

There has been a multitude of changes that have already taken root. Of the greatest successes is the school’s status of Accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges—until 2020. At JP Torres, at the core of our beliefs is that all students can learn, and at high levels. We also believe that it truly “takes a village to raise a child.” That said, we are humbled by the community partnerships that have been established in just one school year: the Guam Army National Guard, Pacific Human Resource Services (PHRS) Guam Autospot, Guam Trades Academy, Guam Department of Labor, Justice Corp, and Playhouse Studios, to name a few. JP Torres was redesigned to give students a fighting chance; to afford them a second chance.

In December 2020, the school was visited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, thereby endorsing the school with a six-year accreditation, SY 2021-2027. The school continues its mission by providing students with social, emotional, and academic support to be successful in their future endeavors. Additionally, JPTSA receives Federal and Local Funding to specifically support our credit recovery program.