Community Independent School : About

Approach | Q & A about the Curriculum | Accreditation

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Learn more about our educational approach, accreditation, unique curriculum, impressive
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Approach
What sparks a child’s sense of wonder and fuels it to become a quest for knowledge, builds
the confidence to acquire it and then nourishes it to become a lifelong love of learning?

At Community Independent School…

Students develop that belief in self that leads to respect, responsibility, stewardship, cooperation and leadership.
Children have a supportive environment in which to experience challenges, successes and triumphs.
We focus on creating an environment that fosters positive self-image and self-respect, both vital ingredients in future achievement
Learning is dynamic, based strongly in academics - language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. Our classrooms are more than books and blackboards; they're filled with music, art, theater, literature and foreign cultures.
A supportive learning environment leads to positive self-image and self respect: vital ingredients for future achievement.
Education is about more than giving children knowledge; it's about encouraging them to do significant things with what they've learned.
We strive to ignite a love of learning through impassioned educators who teach a child-focused curriculum based in knowledge arts, creative and experiential learning.

Learn more about CIS's Constructivist approach to education in:
Constructivism: Two Perspectives, Common Goals (pdf file)
by Sheldon Clark, Head of School

Q & A about the Curriculum
Why are classrooms multi-age? What is meant by "child-centered?" Does a child-centered environment cover the basics? How do children learn reading and writing? How do they learn math? What is an integrated curriculum or a holistic approach? How are children evaluated? Does CIS assign homework? How do children transition to middle school?

Why are classrooms multi-age at CIS?
The primary goal of multi-age grouping is success for all students. Children grow and develop at drastically varying rates. The multi-age classroom provides time and support for each individual to develop, honoring differences in learning styles and rates. Where an individual is along his/her own learning continuum, determines the focus of instruction. There are many additional benefits to multi-aged grouping. Students and teachers work together over a period of years encouraging a stronger sense of community and commitment to one another. Teachers have the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of each student1s academic, social, emotional, and physical strengths and can program to best meet each student1s needs. Parents and teachers have more time to become partners in supporting children. Students are encouraged to teach and learn from one another. Younger children benefit from older students who model more sophisticated approaches to learning while older children benefit from their roles as mentors. The child-centered structure of the multi-age classroom encourages children to be enthusiastic participants in their own learning.

What is a child-centered learning environment?
A child-centered learning environment is structured with a commitment to understanding how children learn and develop. Particular care is taken in planning environments and instruction to support the stages of cognitive development through which children progress. (See the works of Piaget and Vygotsky) Teachers work to create a concept rich classroom providing materials, tools, opportunities and guidance while encouraging children to make choices, to interact with the environment and other children. Children learn or construct knowledge through meaningful experiences building interest, motivation, and the love of learning. Play is valued as a vital context in which learning takes place. In play, children are able to create, risk, avoid the fear of failure, be autonomous, and actively engage their minds and bodies. (Wasserman) Child-centered environments are risk-friendly environments inviting children to explore, experiment, and solve problems.

What is the value of a child-centered learning environment?
For humans to maintain a lifelong interest in learning, three conditions must be present, a sense of wonder, a desire to experience, and an excitement over discovery. Child-centered environments work to foster and preserve these qualities in all learners. Children are encouraged to ask questions, rewarding wonder. The environment invites children to look for answers through experience, validating an active approach to life and learning. Hands-on activities provide plenty of opportunity for discovery and discovery is success. In understanding that learning always involves feelings, the child-centered learning environment provides a structure in which learners experience regular success and build more positive feelings about themselves and their abilities. Our culture and the skills that are necessary to succeed in it are changing rapidly. Knowledge and technology that were highly valued just a decade ago become rapidly obsolete. A child-centered program emphasizes thinking, planning, experimenting, creating, and problem-solving. These skills are the kinds of tools that sustain us throughout our lifetime, regardless of where and when we live.

Are the basics addressed by a child-centered environment?
A child-centered classroom is not synonymous with a free environment. Teachers work to plan goals, experiences, and projects for individuals that match their learning styles and developmental needs. These goals include competencies in language arts, mathematics, and sciences. A child-centered environment challenges learners to discover and apply basic skills through active exploration, projects and research. In recognizing individual time lines, CIS organizes educational proficiency goals around periods of development replacing grade level expectations. Proficiency goals in literacy, mathematics, and sciences are grouped Pre-K/K, 6 to 9 year olds, and 9 to 11 year olds.

Class Sizes
Gathering	Number of Students
Preschool	12
Age 5-7	24
Age 6-9	18
Age 8-11	12

What about reading and writing?
Research indicates that literacy, the ability to utilize reading and writing skills to communicate, is a lifelong process that begins at birth. Like learning to speak, each student has his or her own time line in learning to read and write. CIS teachers work to create an environment that supports literacy development in a natural relaxed manner.

A holistic approach to education honors the premise that learners benefit from ongoing support and encouragement for growth in social, cognitive, emotional, physical, and creative domains. Very often post preschool efforts to educate isolate cognitive or academic achievement as the sole purpose of schooling. Community Independent school1s curriculum recognizes the benefits of providing an environment and educational experiences that promote continuous positive development of social, cognitive, emotional, physical, and creative strengths. The learning environment provides ample opportunity to explore values, broaden communication skills, collaborate, make personal choices, group problem solve, develop ideas and explore information through artistic or imaginative means. The learning environment at CIS is designed with healthy human development as one of its top priorities.

How are students evaluated at CIS?
Evaluation of a student is an ongoing process involving informal parent-teacher communication, periodic observation and note taking, check lists that are tied into curricular goals, and biannual parent- teacher conferences. In place of letter or numerical subject grades, teachers build a portfolio of each individual’s work highlighting change and growth in particular areas over time. Evaluations measure each child1s progress in comparison to their own previous performance and are used to improve and individualize instruction to meet each learner1s needs.

Does CIS assign homework?
In considering the valuable learning that takes place outside of school, the benefit of time spent with family, the opportunities that exist in the community, extracurricular interests, discoveries made in play, and the critically important element of taking time to rejuvenate, homework at CIS is limited to the following practices:

Take time each and every day to read to or with your student.
Emerging readers should be encouraged to spend 15 minutes daily with reading material that is limited in vocabulary and phonetically controlled. Parent participation is strongly encouraged.
Independent readers should be encouraged to read for 30 minutes each day.
Third through fifth grade aged students should keep a reading journal making nightly entries. Each entry should include the title of what they read and a short summary of the book, article, or chapter.
In addition to nightly reading and journal entries, fourth and fifth grade aged students may be assigned one home project per unit.
If a particular student is experiencing difficulty in grasping a skill or concept, additional practice work may be assigned to be completed at home.

Remember the words of John Holt: "Children are learning all the time." Parents are strong influences on children's learning. Make a conscious and regular effort to spend quality time with your child. Take time to talk, plan, gather, tinker, experiment, play, laugh, and create with your child. This is perhaps the most significant homework assignment of all...and it belongs to you.

Will my student be prepared for the transition to middle school?
With generous funding from a private donor to expand into a middle school, Community Independent School, is in an exciting phase of growth. CIS expects to add grades in the coming three years with completion of the Middle School to take place within that time.

In the meantime, the school makes every effort to make the transition from CIS to other schools (be they public, private or charter) smooth for our students. That said, any transition can be stressful, and the transition to middle school is no exception. One of the top priorities of educating students at CIS is to equip them with the knowledge and tools they need to adapt and succeed in any environment. The curriculum for fourth and fifth grade aged students takes particular care in identifying the skills needed to make a successful transition to middle school. Being educated at CIS is a life enriching experience. CIS students learn to value themselves as capable, communicative, creative, literate, thinkers. These skills are the skills that will sustain our students as motivated lifelong learners.

Accreditation
Community Independent School is a member of the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS). SAIS is a voluntary organization of more than 280 independent elementary and secondary schools throughout the South, representing more than 160,000 students. SAIS addresses issues of importance to non-public schools such as organizational excellence, accreditation, curriculum, professional development, governance, equity, and leadership. SAIS works to help both established and emerging schools approach these issues with creativity and innovation. Working at the state, regional, and national levels, SAIS serves and strengthens member schools through the promotion of the highest quality educational standards and ethical conduct.