The Vancouver School Board hopes a program under consideration will keep more First Nations students in school.
On Monday, the board held the first of two community forums to float the idea of a separate aboriginal mini-school for high school students.
Board Chair Patti Bacchus said aboriginal students are continuing to drop out of school.
"Our graduation rates are very flat, are very discouraging. We hear too often students saying I didn't belong, people didn't understand me," Bacchus said.
The board is hoping to develop a program, to be rolled out by September 2012, for aboriginal secondary school students.
Ina Campbell, the parent of five children, hopes the mini-school concept is adopted. She said the existing education system is not working for her kids, who need teachers that understand them, their cultural identities, and issues.
"I've been on a real fight to have my children educated with the same opportunities – to get an education – and I don't see that happening," Campbell said.
An aboriginal mini-school might help her children succeed, she said. "There would be the teachers there who would be willing and wanting to teach my children."
The second forum will be held Tuesday night in Vancouver.