So I made appointments for some of my neighbors and friends and myself to visit the different charter schools in the area.
Four of us visited the first school (grades K-7) that has an Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound program and had been in operation a few years. Its students' test scores at the time were higher than the state average. We met with the administrator first, and she shared a bit of the business side of running a school. She then introduced us to some students who took us on a tour of the school which was held in rooms surrounding what looked like a gymnastics training center with trampolines and mats and beams. The directors had to be creative in finding a facility due to state funding issues and sharing this space was their best option.
The students let us observe some classes in action. I remember one class was in the middle of making an historic American quilt. Each quilt square was designed around an historical figure like Abe Lincoln, etc. I was impressed by this since I have a love of quilts and the stories behind who made them and why, but that's another post.
The students showed us their profiles of their work and progress, and they told us of some of the expeditionary things they did like giving presentations at the local library and doing different types of community service. I liked the school, although I thought I should be more green and granola to enroll my kids. I definitely didn't like how the students called their teachers by their first names.
The second school we visited was in a planned community on land the developer leased to the school, and the classes (grades K-9) met in a few large portable buildings that each housed something like four or five classrooms and boys' and girls' bathrooms. Like the last school, this charter school had been open just a few years, and it's test scores were much higher than the state and local district average. Eight of my friends and neighbors came on this tour. When we arrived we were shown a video about the discipline method the school implements that focuses on being kind and respectful. What impressed me at this school was how the students (2nd grade and higher) were taking Spanish, and piano (with keyboards), as well as being more than proficient in the core subjects. We asked the principal about the possibility of using their program in our school, and he told us that they were patterned after a charter school in the neighboring city and we should go there to talk to the method "founder"/principal.
Only two of us, my friend Chris and I, were able to go to the mother school (serving grades K-12) whose average test scores were in the mid 90's, way higher than the state average. When I set up the appointment, I asked if we could talk to a few of the students during the tour just to see how they like it. When we arrived we were met by "Mrs. B", the principal, who was so protectively concerned that we wanted to talk to a child---for what? I explained to her that some students showed us around school #1, and we wanted to get her students' honest opinion of the school. That calmed her a bit, and she began the tour of their newly-built facility. This charter school had been open for about five years, since the state law allowing charter schools was passed, but they couldn't get the bank financing to build until that fourth year due to rate of failing charter schools across the country. Since we had an afternoon appointment, the kindergarteners had already gone home and we started our tour with the first grade. The teacher and the children demonstrated part of their daily math instruction--doing the basics like time and greater-than, but then they started doing fractions, rehearsing that the top number was the little numerator (said in a puny, squeeky voice) and the bottom number was the DE-NOM-IN-A-TOR (said in an Arnold-the-Terminator voice). They were having fun, and they were learning. Chris leaned over to me and said they were doing things her 3rd-grade daughter just started learning in the local district's school.
In each class we visited, I was awe-struck by the high level of understanding these kids had as they were continuously instructed at a high level--and they were not all accelerated learners, several of the children were disabled in different ways, but they were able to "get" the concepts because the instruction is so repetitive. The faster learners were being challenged, while the slower learners were receiving the remediation they needed. All this success is due, in part, to the discipline method that focuses on kindness and respect. When the teachers call for attentive listening, they get it so no instructional time is wasted. When students move from class to recess or lunch they are in quiet straight lines with arms to their side so there's no teasing and poking or pushing. The bathrooms are no-talking zones so that bathroom teasing and bullying does not occur. The children are taught several behavioral expectations during the first few weeks of school through real-life experiences or made-up scenarios their teachers share with them. For instance,
One time I was on the playground and saw a group of girls playing a fun game. I wanted to play too, but I was too shy to ask, so I just watched them from a few yards away. How do you think I felt? (sad, alone) Yes, and how do you think I thought of those girls? (Bratty, clicky) Yes, but then, one of the girls saw me and invited me over to join the game. How do you think I felt then? (good, happy) Yes, and we had so much fun! How do you think I thought of those girls now? (nice, like friends) Yes, so when you are playing with your friends on the playground and you see another kid standing alone, what do you think I would want you to do? (Invite him to play) Good! And I bet you'll have a fun time too.After the tour, we went into Mrs. B's office and talked with a girl who was a junior. She had experienced the traditional junior high school and said she felt more comfortable in the charter school. She was already taking classes for college credit.
There were so many more positive things about this school that I loved. The sad thing about it and the other two we visited was that their waiting lists were miles long, and we lived so far away from them. Chris and I told Mrs. B that we wanted to copy and paste her school's program to our neck of the woods, and she said that she's too busy being the principal, but gave us the number of a newly-formed company through whom she planned to administer her program.
When I got home, I excitedly e-mailed my report to the ever-growing distribution list (friends were talking to other friends who knew someone else that had a cousin who's father was becoming interested too). We set up a few more appointments for these people to tour Mrs. B's charter school. I volunteered to babysit one of the days while people toured, and I think there were about 12-15 people (business people, teachers, and moms) who were able to go. It was a circus with a ton of kids in my home, but we managed to survive a few hours. When this particular group came back, they were excited to get our charter petition written and submitted ASAP. They didn't want to wait any longer for our school to open. One of the most motivated people was Chris' husband.
Visit again tomorrow for Parental Powers---Part III. This is getting long again (imagine living through it) and I need to go to bed.
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