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TAGOS imposes 'business' look

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Photo by Dan Lassiter

Thomas Miller, left, and Levi Nash both wear polo shirts as they work on a robotic arm at TAGOS Leadership Academy.

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Photo by Dan Lassiter

TAGOS Leadership Academy sophomore Beth Miller labels the brain at her desk. Blue jeans are prohibited at the school and button and polo shirts are required.

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Photo by Dan Lassiter

Garrick Kautz Jr., left, and Brandon Crary work on their HAM radio project dressed for "Fancy Tuesday," something that a number of the TAGOS students have started participating in.

JANESVILLE — Give kids a stricter dress code, and what will they do?

Rebel?

Not necessarily.

The TAGOS Leadership Academy in Janesville this year imposed new dress standards with rules that would displease most high school students. The basic outfit is polo shirt with khaki pants, dress, skirt or shorts. No jeans.

Faced with a future full of polo shirts, some of the boys at this alternative school for teens decided they'd prefer slacks, shirts and ties, even a full-fledged suit.

Officials allowed them to deviate from the code once a week. The boys dubbed it "Fancy Tuesdays."

The dress code specifies polos, "but when the boys are wearing a shirt and tie, how can you say no?" teacher Stephanie Davis said.

"I really don't like polo shirts that much. I like dress shirts," said senior Tyler Schiefelbein.

"I think this looks pretty nice," Schiefelbein said on a recent Tuesday, when he wore a shirt, slacks and matching tie. "I like it."

All schools have rules of dress, but TAGOS is different among local public schools in that it requires students to wear specific kinds of clothing. Staff members said they wanted a code that resembles what an employer might require, to prepare students for their future careers.

Some students hate the new rules, Davis said. Some have a hard time coming up with clothes to match the new code. Some parents can't afford new clothes. When that happens, the school gives them loaner clothes.

How many buttons?

Senior Hailie Hamilton said dressing up motivates her to go to her desk and get her work done, but she wishes she had more choices.

"I don't feel a polo is professional," Hamilton said.

She'd prefer a dress shirt.

Davis said shirts that button all the way down the front are frowned upon because some contain wild patterns, images or words. Hawaiian shirts, for example, would not be allowed by most businesses, she said.

Dress shirts that are plain or striped are being allowed during the transition. Davis acknowledged that the policy has some gray areas.

"It's a work in progress, but it's a good start," she said.

'A business look'

Hamilton said she and other TAGOS students have remarked at the way some girls at the city's big high schools dress:

"'Did you see how low it was?' We notice things like that because we don't dress like that."

Like their peers at Craig or Parker high schools, some TAGOS kids try to see what they can get away with, "but the majority of kids are doing what's asked of them, and they understand why we're doing it," Davis said.

The code does not require specific colors of clothing and nothing that could be called a uniform. That's different from some local religious schools, which require a uniform with specifically colored polos and pants.

"We wanted to give them some self-expression but still keep a business look," Davis said.

TAGOS is a charter school with about 62 students. Its alternative curriculum requires students to complete research projects to learn English, math, science, social studies and other subjects.

Students work in a large, open room, each one in a cubicle with a computer and low partitions. It's meant to mimic a business office, so going with a dress code was a natural, officials said.

"We had problems with students looking like they rolled out of bed sometimes, and being a leadership academy, we wanted more of a business-casual type of situation," Davis said.

Clothes make the student

Teacher Nic Manogue said staff members had discussed the idea for several years. This year, they decided to take the plunge.

Manogue said he's seen a change in attitude—more confidence, more focus and higher quality work by at least some students.

"Some kids don't enjoy it, but they know the expectations when they get here," Manogue said.

One non-business mode of dress is allowed: shorts. Manogue said it's hard to control the building temperature during warm weather, and staff wanted students to be comfortable.

That's fine with Nick Taylor, a junior.

"I only wear pants when I absolutely have to," he said.

But even Taylor would not mind wearing a shirt and tie once a week, "just for the fun of it."

Taylor likes the new code.

"You don't really have to worry about what you're wearing that day because everyone else is wearing the same thing," he said. "You don't have to worry about what brand you're wearing or sparkles on your clothing."

Taylor said students who resist the new rules "hate it because they don't have clothes to wear other than what they wore to 'normal' school."

'Everyday clothes'

Justin Pennycook is not a suit-and-tie kind of guy, but he's satisfied with the new code.

"It's not the best, but it's better than when you wear something different and you're going to get stereotyped," said Pennycook, a junior who spent a year at nearby Parker High School before transferring to TAGOS.

Pennycook said he, like others, had to buy clothes to comply with the new rules. He's expecting more polos and khakis from relatives this Christmas to round out his wardrobe.

"You get used to it. It just becomes everyday clothes for you after a while." he said.

Pennycook said he likes not having to face pressures to wear certain kinds of clothes, something he experienced at Parker, but he doesn't think the TAGOS code would work at a big high school.

Even with the rules that the big high schools have, officials have a hard time uniformly enforcing the rules, Pennycook said.

What to expect

"The expectations expected by the TAGOS staff are similar to what a student would expect if they worked locally at Target, Walmart, McDonald's, Applebee's, and other local business," the dress code states.

Manogue said that doesn't mean all students are expected to go into fast food or the retail trade after graduation.

"If we can teach them to appear with a successful look, maybe that will help them out in the future," Manogue said. "We want them to have the best opportunities," no matter what their futures hold.

Even though the TAGOS standards are loose compared to many businesses, "it's a big jump for some of these kids," Davis said.

TAGOS staff members have to adhere to the same dress code as the students. Manogue said it makes sense for the adults to set an example, but still:

"I miss wearing jeans every once in a while."