About

REACH Adult High School was the vision of Brenda Hughes, Executive Director of Bradley Initiative for Church and Community (BICC).  BICC seeks to solve problems in the community by searching out the root cause and finding solutions.  Through its one-to-one listening process, BICC perceived that there was a need to increase the earning power of residents in Bradley County.  They discovered that, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, almost 30% of the residents of Bradley County had not earned a high school diploma or GED. 

 An Education Committee was formed to look into ways to provide adults the opportunity to earn a high school diploma.  This is how they discovered the adult high school concept.  Needing someone intimately familiar with schools and how they work, BICC hired Mrs. Zoe Renfro to structure and organize such a school.  The concept was presented to the directors of both school systems and Mr. Bob Taylor, Director of Bradley County Schools, was willing to give the concept a chance.  Mrs. Renfro was hired by the school system to create and run the new school that came to be called REACH because it would offer adults the opportunity to reach for the dreams that they thought were lost to them forever.

A partnership was formed with Cleveland State Community College whereby REACH Adult High School was located on the first floor of the CSCC Library.  REACH began its first classes in August of 2004 with 45 students.  REACH Adult High School became fully accredited through SACS CASI in 2005.  In the first year of operation, 17 adults earned their high school diplomas.  In the second year, 33 more adults earned their high school diplomas, one of those being 73 years old.  As of December 2006, 66 people had completed their high school graduation requirements and earned regular high school diplomas.

Because enrollment increased, it became necessary to find a new location with more available space.  Bradley County Adult Education also needed more space, so it only made sense to combine the two Adult Education programs of Bradley County Schools under one roof since they already had the same supervisor.  Therefore, as of July 1, 2007, REACH Adult High School will be located in the REACH Adult Education Center at 1450 Strawberry Lane.

If you dropped out of high school with only a few credits to go for graduation, REACH might be the right place for you.  The only way to know for sure is to contact the REACH Administrative office at 614-8731.

Monday - Thursday

8:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m.