What are the educational priorities of the Basic School?
To achieve excellence for all, the Basic School has four priorities that are considered the essential building blocks of the school. Fitted within these priorities are the components of an effective education.
The First Priority: The School as Community
- A Shared Vision: The Basic School is a place where everyone comes together to promote learning. In the Basic School, the separate classrooms are connected by a clear and vital mission.
- Teachers as Leaders: In the Basic School, teachers are the leaders, with the principal as lead teacher.
- Parents as Partners: In the Basic School, the circle of community extends to embrace parents, who are viewed as the child's first and most important teachers.
The Second Priority: A Curriculum with Coherence
- The Centrality of Language: In the Basic School literacy is the first and most essential goal. All children are expected to become proficient in the written and spoken word, as well as in mathematics and the arts.
- The Core Commonalties: In the Basic School, all students become well informed. They study the various fields of knowledge--history, science, literature, civics, health, for example--which are organized thematically within a framework called "The Core Commonalities." This is not so much a new curriculum as it is a new way to think about the curriculum.
- Measuring Results: The Basic School is accountable to parents, to students, and to the community at large. High academic standards are established in both language achievement and general knowledge. Student progress is periodically evaluated, with assessment always in the service of learning.
The Third Priority: A Climate for Learning
- Patterns to Fit Purpose: In the Basic School, every student is encouraged to become a disciplined, creative, self-motivated learner. Class size is kept small, the teaching schedule is flexible, and student grouping arrangements are varied to promote learning.
- Resources to Enrich: The Basic School makes available to all students rich resources for learning--from building blocks to books. And the school also gives students access to the new electronic tools that connect each classroom to vast networks of knowledge.
- Support Services for Children: The Basic School is committed to serving the whole child. Beyond a solid academic program, the school provides basic health and counseling services and afternoon and summer enrichment programs for students.
The Fourth Priority: A Commitment to Character
- The Core Virtues: The Basic School is concerned with the ethical and moral dimensions of a child's life. Seven core virtues--honesty, respect, responsibility, compassion, self-discipline, perseverance, and giving--are emphasized to guide the Basic School as it promotes excellence in living, as well as in learning.
- Living with Purpose: The core virtues of the Basic School are taught both by word and deed. Through curriculum, school climate, and service, students are encouraged to apply the lessons of the classroom to the world around them.
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What is a Basic School?
Why is it called "Basic?"
What are the educational priorities of the Basic School?
Does the Basic School have specific educational goals for all students?
How is the Basic School different?
Does the Basic School require more money?
Will Basic School students meet district and state standards?
Can any school become a Basic School?
