Program

Structure, Content, Delivery, and Accountability

CURRICULUM STRUCTURE

The Schoolcraft curriculum is based upon Kent Nerburn's metaphor of a three legged stool. The three legs are: world languages and culture, the workings of the natural world, and the creative arts. Though all traditional content areas will be taught, they will be organized and delivered through a focus on these three primary areas of inquiry. The life skills of communication and problem-solving are the seat that unites these three legs, and supports the student.

In order to deliver this curriculum in a way that best serves the needs of each learner, the school will surround the students with support from family, staff, and community. In turn, learners will contribute to the community in meaningful ways. It is our firm belief that the entire community will be in the process of learning together. Individualized education will be supported by goal setting between individual students, their families and one or more teachers.

We intend to integrate subject matter and skill areas through activities appropriate to each learner's stage of development and educational strengths and weaknesses. We will implement project-based learning that puts ideas in a real life context and requires thinking that moves across disciplines. Project-based learning provides students opportunities to prepare and deliver presentations.

We will develop a child-centered curriculum based on the Minnesota Graduation Rule. Our students will be required to meet both the Basic Standards Testing and the High Standards required by Minnesota law.

Modeling life-long learning will be a strong focus for the school. On a regular basis, we will provide family evenings focusing on such topics as stages in child development, the charter school curriculum, how to be a family of learners, and building a learning community. The curriculum will be designed for multi-age groups in which team building, conflict management, cooperation, mentoring and collaboration are learned and practiced. Families will also be encouraged to participate in the classrooms, both as learners and as volunteers.

We believe a culturally diverse population is very important to the success of the school's philosophy. We intend to interview people from diverse backgrounds in our district and ask what kinds of programs would best serve the needs our population.

Our school will stem from the philosophy that education should be holistic. That means students will be involved and pro-active in all aspects of their own learning, including the structuring and maintenance of their environment and the integrating of their own body, mind and spirit.

CORE CONTENT OF CURRICULUM

The core content of our curriculum will parallel that of District #31 and the High Standards required by state law. We see the importance of expecting our students to gain the same knowledge as the other children in our community. The time frame and approach to the curriculum are the major differences that we will be offering at Schoolcraft. Students at Schoolcraft will learn basic skills and traditional academic disciplines such as history, literature, mathematics, writing, etc. through experiential learning in world languages and culture, science and the arts. For example:

1. World languages will be offered to students with the expectation that they not only will be conversant in a second language by the time they graduate from Schoolcraft, but that they also learn about the culture, literature and history of the area where that language is spoken (variation of immersion approach). We plan to offer French as our initial focal language. We selected French because 1) it is an official language of Canada, our nearest international neighbor 2) it is spoken on all continents 3) it is intimately linked to local history 4) of relative availability of quality teachers 5) our most likely site is the French village at Concordia Language Villages. Exposure to and instruction in other world languages and cultures (e.g., Ojibway, Spanish) may also be offered as resources permit.

2. The science curriculum may integrate the study of culture, history, philosophy, etc., It will also have a hands-on component based on the local environment and local resources, such as Bemidji State Park, Neilson-Spearhead Center and the Headwaters Science Center.

3. The arts will be taught as an integrative experience utilizing training in specific artistic disciplines as the basis for the understanding of broader educational concepts. For example, through instruction in music, students will learn mathematics skills, performance skills and study skills, while students may use the visual arts and theater arts to learn about cultures, styles, and historical periods.
   

EDUCATIONAL DELIVERY

1. The school's policy for promoting parent involvement and participation will include the following:

   • Each student and his or her parents or guardians will be required to meet with teachers at the start of the school year to determine personal and academic goals and objectives.

   • Families will be invited to participate in regular meetings and social events sponsored by the school.

   • Families will be invited to participate in classes with their children.

   • Families will be encouraged to attend and participate in performances by students during the school year.

2. The proposed instructional methods of the school will be primarily experiential and cooperative learning.

1. The length of the school day will be determined by a variety of factors, including transportation and schedules of parents.

2. The school calendar will closely parallel that of ISD #31, although consideration is being given to creative scheduling options that would optimize the learning experience for students.

Schoolcraft will build its discipline policy on a foundation of conflict-management processes. Selected staff members will be trained to provide mediation for students, staff, and families. Students and staff will create school rules together. Students choosing not to follow school rules may face the possibility of expulsion. Discipline policies will be further developed with input from parents, students and teachers.

ACCOUNTABILITY

All students will be assessed on a national standardized achievement test in the spring of the year. Informal assessment tools will be administered throughout the school year. Students will increasingly be responsible for maintaining evidence of their progress in their individual portfolios, which may include videotape, audiotape and computer disks.

Measures or Tests to be used:

• Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments - 9, 11, and 14 year olds

• Nationally Standardized Achievement Test (specific instrument yet to be determined by the board of directors): 5-8 year olds in the spring and 9-14 year old in both the fall and spring.

• Running Reading Records - 8 - 14 year olds ages (3 times a year)

• Math Assessment - all ages 3 times a year

• Writing Samples - all ages 3 times a year

Measures for Evaluating Student Success

We will gather information through means such as:

1. attendance data

2. behavior records

3. parental involvement logs

4. commuity involvement records

5. attitude surveys of students, parents, and staff

6. case studies of students

7. classroom observations and anecdotal records

8. Individual Learning Plan evaluations

Some measures for evaluating the overall success of the school that are tied to the school's mission are:

1. Enrollment trends and re-enrollment rate

2. Attendance rate

3. Parent and student satisfaction and involvement

4. Volunteer hours by community members

5. Teacher and staff retention

Two academic and two non-academic measurable outcomes that we agree to be held accountable for and will provide the basis for our first annual report are:

1. Academic outcomes:

   • Demonstrated proficiency in reading comprehension.
   • Demonstrated proficiency in mathematical reasoning.
   • Record the number of books each student reads quarterly

    

2. Non-academic outcomes:

• To increase parental and community involvement with children in the classroom. Progress to be measured through comparison with data from current school year.
• To increase student involvement in service-learning activities outside of the instructional day. Progress to be measured through comparison with data from current school year.

Sponsor Responsibilities

• Schoolcraft will develop procedures and timelines for sponsor site visits and data review for ongoing monitoring. Procedures will include a minimum of two site visits annually and two annual reports by the school to the sponsor.

• Sponsoring agency will be reimbursed for costs of all activities related to site visits and data review.

• The length of the charter contract shall be three years.