CPSC CHARTER: Mission, Purposes, Focus

From the original charter which was applied for as "The Community School for Children." in 2001: the mission, purposes, and unique contributions of the proposed charter school.

MISSION

The Community School for Children is committed to three principles: 1) that children are naturally full of life, power and confidence; 2) that we must use the best available child-development research on how children learn; and 3) that children develop best in a community where everyone values curiosity, challenge and learning. The Community School for Children will nurture and guide children's passion to grow, their curiosity, their ability to be amazed, their determination to relate to others and their exploration of their emerging strengths and potential. The School will create a community of partners to guide, to cherish and to be amazed by the children. The School will be modeled on the educational philosophy of the Duke School for Children. However the board members and advisors of the Community School for Children do not currently have and do not plan to have any formal or informal connection with the Duke School for Children.

PURPOSES OF PROPOSED CHARTER SCHOOL

The Community School for Children will be modeled on the educational philosophy of the successful Duke School for Children which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1997. The Duke School will be referenced often in the application and so the purposes begin with a description of The Duke School, its development, its teaching methods, its philosophical base, and its success.

The story of the Duke School for Children is not a history of a particular school, but of educational theory, psychological research, grassroots organization, and community involvement. The Duke School for Children began as a nursery school used for child development research in 1947. An early psychologist working in the Nursery School noted the "child's refreshing freedom of expressing feelings and emotions, his unconcerned and enthusiastic approach to the world around him his curiosity and vitality..."(see note 1) For decades the school functioned as a place of learning for students from preschool to graduate school, and parents and teachers were a part of the learning process

In the 60's, like many other schools associated with universities, the school was increasingly used as, and referred to as, a lab school. The lab school was influenced by many child-development experts, particularly the work of John Dewey and Jean Piaget, and by the progressive traditions of the British Infant Schools movement. Dewey believed students learned best through hands-on learning involving concrete projects with practical applications, rather than through rote memorization. He felt that children construct their own knowledge by actively participating in the learning process, rather than simply assimilating information. Piaget postulated the existence of specific stages of cognitive development in children, making each child's own stage of cognitive development the most important factor in his or her education. Piaget's followers use developmentally-appropriate teaching methods and materials.

Musia Lakin, Duke Professor of Psychology, and Director (1966 - 1982) of the Duke University Preschool and Primary describes the School this way: "The School was based on what we observed and what we knew about child development, rather than what anyone else thought the kids should be doing. 'Children were learning through experience' and 'learning by doing.' "(see note 2)

In the early 1980s, responsibility for running the school was transferred from the Psychology Department to a group of parents who incorporated and renamed it the Duke School for Children. They dedicated the new Duke School to the principles of its heritage, to exploring child-development issues and using the best available child-development research on how children learn to create the best possible learning environment.

Today, The Duke School for Children has grown from 55 children in 1983 to almost 500 and remains committed to the principles of Dewey and Piaget. The School continues to view children as full of life, power and confidence, constructing their knowledge with guidance from teachers who understand and appreciate their developmental stage. Parents choose the Duke School because they believe in the unique educational environment. Also, each year, 250 to 275 educators and friends of education visit the school to see these theories applied successfully.

Unfortunately the Duke School's unique educational philosophy and instructional methods are not an option for most families. The annual tuition ranges from $5,500 to $8,700 a year (depending on the child's age), and the Duke School maintains a waiting list that is particularly discouraging for new families in the early grades.

The Community School for Children can successfully replicate the Duke School for Children's teaching methods and learning environment because of the vast Duke School past experience which is defining The Community School endeavor.

Vicky Patton, founding Board member and President of The Community School for Children, was also the founding Board member and first elected President of the Board of the Duke School for Children. Janet Clement, a Community School Advisor and committed volunteer, was the founding Director of the Duke School for Children, a position she held for seventeen years until her retirement in 1999. Economist Bob Conrad, Professor of Public Policy at Duke, helped develop the Community School budgets and will serve as advisor on business issues. He created the original business plan for the Duke School. Psychologist Martha Putallaz, Professor of Child Psychology at Duke University and a former Duke School parent, will provide the Community School's liaison to the lab school tradition and child development research. Other past Duke School board members, teachers and parents have already helped and have committed to support this public school version of the Duke School for Children. The board members and advisors of the Community School for Children do not currently have and do not plan to have any formal or informal connection with the Duke School for Children.

This Duke School past experience combined with the expertise of other outstanding education and child and family professionals who are committed to child-centered education will assure that The Community School will be an outstanding place for children and their families.

UNIQUE CONTRIBUTIONS

The Community School for Children will have three unique contributions:

1. Encouraging the use of different and innovative teaching methods:

Innovative teaching methods are at the core of The Community School for Children. Developmentally appropriate, integrated, hands-on, and child-centered are teaching principles which have been around for many years and are overused terms in the educational lexicon. However The Community School will implement these methods comprehensively as child development research indicates. The Community School will use as its model The Duke School for Children which has successfully incorporated these teaching principles into its school philosophy and curriculum for decades.

Janet Clement, recently retired, Director of the Duke School for 17 years, is committed to the concept of implementing Duke School philosophies and teaching methods at the Community School for Children.

2. Creating new professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunities to be responsible for the learning program at the school site:

In order for children to remain curious, to welcome challenge, to seek improvement and celebrate success, their teaching partners must do the same. Opportunities for teaching partners to be challenged, to seek improvement and celebrate success will be at the heart of The Community School.

The organizational structure will not be traditionally hierarchical. Management and instructional decisions will be made by the people most affected by those decisions, in consultation with each other. All adult support people -- parents, teachers, board members, etc. -- will be Partners in the commitment to fulfill the mission of The Community School for Children.

Teaching Partners will be encouraged to develop their own professional development plans and include projects such as action research, curriculum design, child study, grant writing, study groups, conferences and site visitations. The School has budgeted generously for staff development to make sure this is a reality. Also The Community School will work in partnership with child development researchers and educators in Triangle universities.

Ken Dodge, Director of the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University, has already agreed to serve on the Board of Advisors for The Community School for Children and to connect The Community School's teaching enrichment efforts to his Center's work in teacher training.

The Senior Partner (or Director) will share administrative duties and regularly collaborate with the Teaching Partners. This shift away from the traditional hierarchy not only allows the Senior Partner to spend part of every day in the classrooms, but also prevents the isolation of teaching partners and principals that often occurs in school settings. Teaching Partners will work together closely. They will meet each week to discuss schedules and children's learning needs, to share successes and to brainstorm challenges. Teaching Partners act as managing partners, guiding students and collaborating with each other, families, and the Senior Teaching Partner to create a positive learning environment for each student.

It is the goal of The Community School to encourage curiosity and celebrate challenge for everyone in the school community, the Teaching Partners, children, Family Partners, and others as we build a "learning community." (see note 3)

3. Provide parents and students with additional choices of unique educational opportunities within the public school system:

At present, only families with the financial resources and the ability to apply years in advance have the opportunity to access private schools like The Duke School for Children, where this individualized, child-centered and developmentally appropriate educational philosophy defines the curriculum. All parents should be able to choose this educational philosophy if it is best for their child and their family. The Community School board and advisors are dedicated to the principle that this educational philosophy should be available to all.

In addition to the hours of volunteer time, the School will strongly encourage parents to become real partners in the learning community, to explore new ideas, to meet challenges and to celebrate together. The School will have a volunteer (20 hours a week) Family Partners Coordinator to work with families to create a positive partnership through family field trips, library nights, book clubs, social events and programs for parents of young children on topics chosen by parents. (The Community School already has a volunteer committed to this position, someone who has a background in family counseling and is very familiar with the unique instructional methods.)

To further encourage the partnership with families, Teaching Partners will visit the families of each child before school begins.

EDUCATIONAL FOCUS

The Community School for Children believes that children are full of life, power and confidence. The School will nurture and guide their passion to grow, their curiosity, their ability to be amazed, their determination to relate to others and their exploration of their emerging strengths and potential. To this end, each child will have an individual education plan which acknowledges his or her "multiple intelligences" - (see note 4). The School will also create a community of supporters to guide, to cherish and to be amazed by the children. The School will be modeled on the Duke School for Children, a successful, private, child-centered school in Durham.

ENROLLMENT BY YEAR
2002: 112
2003: 154
2004: 196
2005: 238
2006: 252

GRADE LEVELS
2002: K - 2
2003: K - 3
2004: K - 4
2005: K - 5
2006: K - 5