In the 2007–08 school year, then-Interim Dean of Students Mike Pretasky began discussing how to improve student retention with Ric Dressen and Bruce Locklear, the Edina Public Schools superintendent and EHS principal at the time. Students who dropped out of EHS would often finish their learning at an alternative learning center separate from EPS, where they would receive more personalized teaching and earn graduation credits at their own pace. These were either area learning centers built in partnership between two districts or contract alternative programs, which were schools built in partnership with a school district and a nonprofit. According to Pretasky, this was because the school lacked “a good support system in place to help them get caught back up.”

At the time, EHS had two intervention-based classes, High School 101 and High School 102, that taught students organizational and study skills. But the two weren’t flexible enough to adapt to each student’s unique needs.

“When you accept students in your education system, you’re accepting that responsibility for that human, to educate them and get them to graduation and help them prepare for a good life,” Pretasky said. “[A student dropping out] feels… a little bit like a failure.”

According to Education Alternative and Extended Learning Consultant Christy Irrgang, who works for the Minnesota Department of Education and advised Thole on how to run Options, the integration of graduation incentive programs into state legislation dates back to 1987, but the idea of a district-exclusive “school within a school” was only included in Minnesota law around the late 2000s. EHS decided to establish an alternative learning program with the development of Options, which launched in the 2008–09 year. 

Although Pretasky was only supposed to serve as dean for the rest of the academic school year, he stayed on permanently as dean and Options coordinator to design the program. To begin, Pretasky needed to develop a curriculum, find a teacher, and identify ways to personalize learning. Pretasky said he immediately knew who he wanted to teach Options: Annie Thole.

At the time, Thole was a special education teacher. She and Pretasky were on the now-disbanded Intervention Committee together, a collection of staff members from different departments working to improve retention rates.

“I could see that [Thole was] one of those people that could set firm expectations. But even while she was doing that, the students know that she cares, and they’re going to respect her for that,” he said. “She never comes off as authoritative, but more like, ‘I need you to do this because I care about you,’ and they didn’t want to let her down. I could kind of tell that, and that is invaluable for kids that might have the motivation in the academic piece at first. They at least have the drive for that relationship that they’ve established with Ms. Thole. If nothing else, they’ll do it for her.”

The two began researching the best format for alternative learning programs with the ultimate goal of detailing a plan for Options. They attended seminars and trainings which focused on the philosophy behind alternative education, the importance of having high quality curriculum and instruction, and the intricacies of legislation surrounding alternative education. 

Pretasky said that he and Thole were determined to ensure Options would not be a “packet program,” as some alternative learning programs were considered. “Packet programs,” as Pretasky described them, are non-engaging forms of schooling where all students do is complete endless “packets,” or busy work, independently. In contrast to a packet program, the Options was designed to be multidimensional and interactive, prioritizing academic-self-management, socioemotional health, and postsecondary planning. 

“The main thing about our alternative program is that we personalize learning,” Thole said. “That’s really a key characteristic. So we’re meeting students where they’re at.”

The plan for Options was approved by the Department of Minnesota in time for the 2008–09 school year. The program runs year-round, with students having the opportunity to enroll part-time and make up individual credits or enroll full-time and take nearly all their core classes with Options. 

In Options’s first year, Thole was the academic lead, moving from special education to teach in Options full-time. Pretasky was the coordinator, finding opportunities for students and meeting with parents and students about their progress. Originally, the Options classroom was in room 107, near the locker rooms, and Pretasky and Thole built it from the ground up. Computers were donated from EPS District & Technology Services, and chairs and tables were obtained from district storage. Pretasky bought bookshelves himself, which full-time students built together on their first day of class; on a later weekend, he repatched the dented drywall.

As the sole Options teacher, Thole taught students in small groups, often having them do an assignment or reading together and then helping them individually when they needed help in specific areas. According to Thole, she and Pretasky would “joke that it was kind of a one-room schoolhouse.” 

Since Pretasky’s time was split between being the Options coordinator and dean for all of EHS, he would pop into the Options classroom 10–15 times a day. His main role in interacting with the students was performing socioemotional check-ins. The program prioritized developing emotional and personal growth in its students just as much as academic progress. 

“Especially students that we were working with who are maybe a little bit more at risk at times, [they] didn’t walk into the classroom always prepared for school,” Pretasky said. “Sometimes they were bringing in some stuff emotionally that happened [the] night before… and there had to be time and space to process through that.”

Students qualify for alternative learning programs by meeting at least one of the criteria from the 2025 Minnesota Statute Section 124D.68, which outline reasons students may struggle to complete graduation credits. These cover parenthood, truancy, expulsion, addiction, homelessness, mental health, abuse, and being significantly behind in class. Students at EHS are often referred to Options by their school counselor, or occasionally a parent. In the earlier years of Options, Pretasky said that he and Thole “tried to be everything, whatever [their students] needed.”

“I was not a social worker; Ms. Thole is not either. But we ended up getting to know students on a very personal level, and we became familiar with the obstacles they were facing outside of school,” he said. “Sometimes they would come into my office and just need to vent and talk, and sometimes they would need to yell or cry, and same with the parents.”

“I feel like so many of these students are so bright and have so many talents; however, in a classroom full of 33 students… sometimes you can get lost,” Thole said. “And I would say, [to meet] students when they’re at a tough point in their life and grow throughout the years… to really highlight [that], I think that’s what we can really do in here.”

As the years progressed and enrollment increased, Options gained a paraprofessional, then a math teacher, and then a science teacher. In 2014, Pretasky became an assistant principal for EHS as a whole and transferred his role as coordinator to Thole, who in turn took on a lighter teaching load thanks to the additional instructors. In 2017, EHS’s buildings were revamped, and Options was given its own space in the social studies wing, consisting of an open main room and two attached classrooms. 

Currently, 85 students participate in Options, although enrollment tends to grow as the year progresses; last year, about 120 students enrolled in Options collectively earned 362 credits. Thole, Pretasky, and Irrgang all emphasized the importance of running a high-quality program that fulfills the standards for each credit set by the Minnesota Department of Education.

“You can’t just go into the program and learn underwater basket weaving unless it’s related to academic standards. We see some programs do some really creative stuff to meet academic standards, but we still want to make sure that students are getting their required coursework,” Irrgang said, while Pretasky described the Options curriculum as “completely parallel” to mainstream curriculum.

Currently, Options has four part-time teachers and two educational associates, Debbie Uhlemann and Grace Burnside.

Science teacher Drew Cole initially began teaching with Options because of the differences in alternative versus mainstream teaching. Students work at their own pace with personalized guidance from their teachers, although they aim to earn a credit each semester.

“We’re always discussing goals for the week [or] goals for the semester. How do we pace that appropriately, because, of course, life events come up for all students. We know that. It really is highly focused on the student and what are their goals,” Cole said.

English teacher Sarah Jarrett’s passion for teaching stems from a desire to help students who face life challenges, like how she did growing up. Options fulfilled this desire through emphasis on interpersonal connection.

“I grew up in a situation where I was a very good student, and my life on the surface looked like I had everything I needed, but I had a very mentally ill parent, and so my home life was very difficult,” Jarrett said. “And my teachers were the ones who saw me, and I feel like saved me, honestly, and I want to do that for students… I think I have always related to the kids who struggle more.”

The two teach in Options for some periods and mainstream classes for the rest. In his three years teaching with Options, Cole said he has learned how to better connect with students, both through the program and in his mainstream physics classes. Jarrett said that Options taught them that they can be flexible with deadlines while still running an effective classroom.

“[Options] just really reinforces the fact that as teachers, we don’t always know what’s going on in our students’ lives… and that can impact how school is going, whether they missed an assignment or were gone for a few days,” Cole said. “And in the hustle and bustle of having 160 plus students, it’s easy to forget that sometimes, and being able to work so closely with students helps remind me [of] that.”

“I expected to have a lot more control over humans, I think, when I first started teaching, and that’s just not really healthy, and not the way… people operate or want to operate,” Jarrett said. “So it’s definitely helped me see that I can be flexible without the whole thing falling apart, which I think is the fear for a lot of young teachers.”

According to Irrgang, the most important factor for a successful alternative learning program is student relationships for a caring adult.

Jarrett still keeps up with some of the graduated students she taught in Options. For example, one of their former students recently got a professional contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Jarrett occasionally attends his fights. 

“There’s just a realness. We get to see the tough times, and then we get to see the success,” she said.

The students at Options echo the same sentiment: immense gratitude for the staff that put them back on track to graduate.

Junior Logan DiDonato began Options at the start of his sophomore year after falling behind in credits due to missing school for an extended period of time. This year, he chose to continue learning in Options because he likes its independent style. Like the Options teachers, he also cites the interpersonal connectedness of the program as one of its greatest strengths.

“It was very easy to warm up to. All the people here are very nice,” he said. “Ms. Thole is great. Ms. Uhlemann is great. Grace is great. I love them all. They’re absolutely phenomenal at their job.”

“You know every teacher, usually by first name. Even though there’s a lot of them, you know most of the students. So it’s a lot more connected type of experience,” senior James Griffin said. “[Teachers] are always available. And if you need personal things, like we have some kids in here who need to take medication or stuff  like that, they’ll make sure that’s all going well.”

Griffin joined Options his junior year for similar reasons as DiDonato and took advantage of the self-paced nature of the program; last spring, he made up four math credits and an English credit in one semester.

“I think [Options] helped me a lot because I had missed so much that it wasn’t looking great for me when it came to graduating. This got me back on course for that,” he said.

Griffin also stated that Options helped him build lifelong skills, like responsibility and organization. Had it not been for Options, he thinks he would have seriously considered getting a GED, which is a high school equivalency credential for people who did not complete high school. In Minnesota, the tests required to obtain a GED cost $144, and GED hopefuls often require extra instruction due to the comprehensive nature of the tests, which can run a student up to $300. 

Alexander Loza, who graduated from EHS in 2024 and enrolled in Options in his sophomore year, benefited from the college and career planning resources Options offers. Thole arranges for guests to come to the Options classroom to speak about their careers and takes the students to visit colleges a few times a year; Loza said that one of the people he met through these resources went with him to check out a trade school, which he recently graduated from as an electrician. He’s now studying marketing at Normandale Community College and plans on pursuing real estate and working as an electrician concurrently after he graduates. He advises other students in Options to capitalize on all the resources the program has to offer.

“I think that Options prepares you for life after high school because you should start forming these good habits right now… because it does get harder,” Loza said. “All the teachers here want to see you succeed and get past this.”

Loza’s time at EHS is remembered by his canvas board. Next year, Griffin will have one too; the year after that, so will DiDonato. A literal mark on the school that represents something greater for Thole.

“It’s a mark on our hearts,” she said.