Community Learning Values Agreement
Please read the Community Learning Values agreement and sign below.
Vision
To foster a sense of place, sense of Self, and a love for learning in our children, so that they may live meaningful lives with a deep understanding and stewardship for our community and our world.
Mission
The Community School nurtures, challenges, and empowers children by using the local community and natural world as our classroom to creatively explore all subject areas through a holistic, experiential curriculum.
The Community School’s vision and mission reflect the key values of our learning community. In order to realize these, we expect all members of our community--children, families, faculty and staff, board of trustees--to honor and practice the following values:
Respect for Self, Others and Surroundings
We value the practice of respect for self, others and our surroundings. We believe learning does not happen in isolation, but in a diverse community of people, places, and ideas. In order to engage with and learn from this community, one must be respectful and honor the unique needs of all things, including our own. In addition to being respectful to familiar spaces like our classroom and our homes, we believe in respect for wild places and the public places of our community.
Culture of Trust
We value trust as the foundation, which creates meaningful relationships and a learning space for all members to thrive. We believe that building a culture of trust is essential for authentic teaching and learning to take place in all contexts.
Challenge and Support
We value a learning environment that both challenges and supports our community of learners. We believe that taking risks, learning from triumphs and mistakes, and putting forth the utmost effort are essential for the learning process. We strive to create a safe learning community that both nurtures and provides rigorous contexts where members can celebrate their successes, push beyond their comfort zones, and grow.
Experiential Learning Approach
We value an experiential learning style which recognizes that learning does not just happen in the classroom, but also through activities that reinvigorate our connection to the land, our communities, and to ourselves. Whether exploring mountain top ecology in Acadia in the rain, solving math problems while building a timber-frame structure, or volunteering with a community organization, we recognize the power of learning in creative, dynamic and real-world contexts that can be academically, emotionally and physically challenging.
Stewardship and Service
We value stewardship and service, knowing that our actions, both positive and negative, have profound impacts on the entire earth community. We believe in being responsible for our resources, our footprints, and our future generations. Being an integral part of the world, we feel responsible to live in ways that honor both human needs and those of the broader world, while also advocating for and serving those in need.
Local and Global Perspectives
We value both local and global perspectives and as the human world becomes more interconnected, it is essential that we understand our local contexts, those of the broader world, and especially how the two relate. With this knowledge we strive to be active local, and world
citizens.
Appropriate Technology and Media
We value the appropriate use of electronic technology and media but we believe in limiting the use of technology and “screen-time,” throughout our day, as it can be disruptive to the developmental and creative learning processes. We strive to teach children to use technology when appropriate, recognizing it can be an important tool, when used in moderation.
Love for Learning
We value and aim to inspire a life-long love for learning among our community. We strive to instill the joys of learning in each member and engage in learning opportunities with a genuine excitement and sense of wonder for the world.
By signing below, I agree to foster the values outlined in the Community Learning Values agreement.