GARDEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLNurturing minds one child at a time

THE PHYSICAL PLANT•School is located at Grandfather Mountain in Linville, NC.

•The campus will take advantage of the unique habitats that are found on the mountain and surrounding property.

•Students will have a hands on experience with the different habitats.

•World class ropes course and climbing walls for P.E. and team building activities. (Students/Staff)

OUR MISSION•Faculty and staff will work together•Engage students in meaningful learning experiences•Promote creativity and critical thinking•Theme-based learning (drawing on connections)•Hands-on inquiry learning

Metaphorically SpeakingSchool- garden

Faculty and Staff- gardeners (provide necessary experiences, knowledge, and skills)

Students- seeds

Goal- Students will be able to “bear fruit” and give back to society

“I hear, I forget. I see, I remember. I do, and I understand” (Glickman, 2007, p. 203).

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

•Moral Education

•Hands- on Educational Approach

•21st Century Learners and Teachers

•Intrinsically Motivated and Reflective Students

•Civic- Minded Students

•Self- Expression through the Arts

GOVERNANCE

• TEACHERS WILL HAVE A STRONG VOICE!!!• FOUR MAIN COMMITTEES:

– Curriculum Committee– Learning Committee– Interview Committee– School Policy Committee

ORGANIZATION•Kindergarten – 4th grade by grade level

•Heterogeneous classrooms with EC and ESL’s included in all classrooms

•Two TAs in every classroom

•Ten-fifteen students in each classroom; approx. 200 students in school

BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT

•Intrinsic Motivation

•Student Reflections

•Higher level questioning allowing for reflective thought

•Morning Meeting

•Student Leaders

•Each classroom will collaborate and chart rules

CURRICULUMThe curriculum will be centered on four major themes:

•RELATIONSHIPS•SURVIVAL•SOCIAL JUSTICE•CHANGE

Each school day will be broken into the following learning blocks:

•Learning Lab•Literature and the Arts•Games•Media Literacy•Service Learning

RELATIONSHIPS•Read relationships-themed literature

•Play games that build relationships and teach teamwork

•Discuss and focus on relationships in Math

•Develop a PowerPoint that explores relationships within the community

SURVIVAL

•Read and conduct novel or book studies about Survival.

•Play survival-themed games to learn Multiplication Patterns and Facts with fluency

•Learn addition and subtraction patterns and facts with fluency

•Participate in real-life economics including checking and savings accounts

•Participate in “Project Wild” learning about animal adaptations and habitats.

•Design, construct, sow and harvest plants in a garden

SOCIAL JUSTICE•Participate in book studies

•“Pennies for Peace”

•Gain an understanding of the Underground Railroad by reading various books about this time period and participating in activities to reinforce the social justices and injustices associated with slavery

•Use different forms of art (drama, visual art, interpretive dance/movement, and music) to demonstrate an understanding of the Holocaust

CHANGE•Observe and understand the life cycle of a butterfly (and other animal adaptations)

•Explore and understand how to convert fractions to decimals and percentages

• Investigate and research how regional populations have changed over time

• Engage in community service to change things in a positive way

LEARNING RESOURCES

•Media Center will house resources

•Fiction Book Room

•Non-fiction Book Room

•Storage for science lab materials

•Maps

•Smartboards, laptops

•Professional Library for “hands on learning”

INSTRUCTION•Instruction will take place in classrooms, outdoors, and in community using cooperative and inquiry-based learning.

•Community service or observations once a week

•No worksheets, but instead will use hands-on activities, projects, and reflective journals.

•“I hear, I forget. I see, I remember. I do, and I understand (Glickman, 2007)

ASSESSMENT•Marzano and Dewey- students must be provided real opportunities to apply and/or demonstrate the knowledge they have obtained•Gardner- all people learn in a variety of ways; thus, we must offer different ways of proving

•Short and long term assessment•Anecdotal documentation over time

•Strengths and weaknesses•Conferencing among all stakeholders•Ongoing portfolio with reflections (student responsibility)•Final presentation at end of each nine weeks on nine week theme; demonstration is student choice•“Mastery” or “Not-Mastery”

ADMINISTRATION, TEACHERS AND STAFF

•Classrooms (10-15 students, 1 highly qualified teacher, 2 teacher assistants)•Lead Teachers •Faculty and Staff include:

1. Teachers2. Teacher assistants3. Enrichment Instructors:

• Visual Arts Teacher• Drama Teacher• Music Teacher• Dance and Interpretive Movement Teacher• Physical Activity Instructor/Grandfather Mountain Outdoor

Guide• Speech Therapist• Exceptional Children’s Teacher

4. School Nurse5. Cafeteria Workers6. Bus Drivers

FAMILIES AND COMMUNITY“Building parent involvement is the single most important

thing that parent groups do” (ptotoday.com, n.d.).

•Student graduation requires 40 hours of parent service over the course of the student’s schooling (grades K-4)

•Documentation

•Each nine weeks students and parents will plan a field trip within the community based on the supporting nine week’s theme

•Every class will partake in a class community service experience that will span the entire year

•Activities sponsored through the community for the school include but are not limited to- Breakfast and Fathers, Saturday Night Jams, Do-It-Recycling, etc.)

INITIATION, IMPLEMENTATION AND COST

•Estimated Total Cost for School: $15,000,000

•Estimated Cost for 2 years of operations: $5,000,000

•Submit a proposal to the Hugh Morton Estate to fund our school

•Apply for grants through the U.S. Dept. of Education

•Use the allotted $5,000 per pupil allotted to North Carolina Public Schools

•Partnership with local businesses and seek corporate sponsorship. Investing in our school is an investment in their future.

REFERENCES21st Century Schools. (2004). Retrieved June 17, 2009, from http://www.21stcenturyschools.com.

Calkins, L. & Bellion, L. (1997). Raising lifelong learners: A parent's guide. USA: Perseus Books.

CIBL & TASC. (2007). About CIBL. Retrieved June 15, 2009, from http://www.ciblearning.org/. Epstein, J.L., Coates, L., Salinas, K.C., Sanders, M.G., & Simon, B.S. (1997). School, Family, and Community

Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Glenn, J. & Hergert, L. (2008). The civic mission of schools. In C. Glickman (Ed.), Letters to the next president. (2008 ed., p. 203). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Hoerr, T. (2009). How book groups bring change. Educational Leadership, 80-82.

Howard, G. (1993). Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice. New York, NY: Basic Books.

John Dewey and Progressive Education. (n.d.) Bowling Green State University. Retrieved June 10, 2009, from http://www.bgsu.edu/department/acs.

John Lock Foundation. (2005). Building for the future: The school enrollment boom in North Carolina. Raleigh, N.C. Terry Stoops.

Kohn, A. (2001). Five reasons to stop saying "Good Job!". Young Children. Retrieved June 15, 2009, from http://www.alfiekohn.org.

Kriete, R. & Bechtel, L. (2002). The morning meeting. Turner FAlls, MA: Northeast Foundation for Children.

REFERENCESLewis, C., & Tsuchida, I. (1998). The basics in Japan: The three C's. Educational Leadership, 32-37.

Lotan, R. (2004). Teaching teachers to build equitable classrooms. Theory Into Practice, 45(1), 32-39. Marzano, R.J., Pickering, D.J., & Pollock, J.E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for

increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Paquette, K. (2009). Integrating the 6+1 writing traits model with cross-age tutoring: an investigation of elementary students' writing development. Literacy Research and Instruction, 48(1), 28-38.

Pennies for Peace (n.d.). Retrieved June 22, 2009, from http//www.penniesforpeach.org/home.html.

Project Appleseed. (2009). The six slices of parental involvement. Retrieved June 12, 2009, from www.projectappleseed.org.

PTO Today: Helping parent leaders make school great. Retrieved June 10, 2009, from http://www.ptotoday.com/index.php.

Rolling, K. & Halladey, S. (2008). Voices closest to the ones we love. In C. Glickman (Ed.), Letters to the Next President. (2008, ed., p. 229). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Slavin, R. (1987). Developmental and motivational perspectives on cooperative learning: A reconciliation. Child Development, 58, 1161-1167.

Tompkins, R. (2008). Nine million voices. In C. Glickman (Ed.), Letters to the next president. (2008 ed., p. 78). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.