Time for a new kind of school

I thought I had found the perfect school for D#2 and one that actually tempted me back into teaching in a school setting. I had found my dream job. Except . . . . it wasn't. Nor was it a good place for her. Not a bad school, just not the right school. So, that behind us, we're off to the next wonderful school.

Where, you might ask? I'm asking too. For a child like my daughter, and for many other children, there is no wonderful school. Many kids can go on to be successful if they can just make it through the ordeal we call education. What is needed is a different kind of school. Will someone please start one?

Uh, me? Are you talking to me? Can I actually start a school? My friend Meredith put it this way: "You thought you had found your dream job. Perhaps you were dreaming too small."

So here's the dream under its working name:

Just Right Academy is a private elementary and middle school geared to children who need structure, consistency and positive reinforcement, remediation and a multi-sensory way of learning, more movement, and reduced stress. Students receive direct small group and/or individual instruction in reading, math and language arts, along with integrated social studies, science, art, music, and drama. In some areas a student may need intense remediation, while in others he or she may need to be challenged. Social skills are directly taught and constantly reinforced. Learning to serve is an important value and there are daily opportunities for this along with monthly service Fridays. Movement breaks and physical activities are built into the schedule. A high school curriculum may be added later if the need is there.

Unnecessary stressors such as homework, high-stakes testing, and inappropriately difficult and/or busy work are not part of the program. But because life is not stress-free, techniques and strategies are taught to help students deal with the inevitable stressors and frustrating situations in their lives.

JRA’s core philosophy is that of Nicholas Hobbes’ Twelve Re-ED principles:

l. Life is to be lived now, not in the past, and lived in the future only as a present challenge. All children come with a history, but it is essential that it doesn’t haunt them in their present school setting. Every day, every hour, is an opportunity to start fresh.

2. Trust between child and adult is essential. In order for learning to happen, adults must be seen as reliable and trustworthy allies with predictable and consistent behaviors. A culture of trust and consistency must exist among the adults before the children ever begin at the school, and a commonality of philosophy is critical.

3. Competence makes a difference, and children and adolescents should be helped to be good at something, and especially at schoolwork. Some children require direct teaching and multisensory learning in order to become competent at reading and math. Other opportunities for competence are regularly offered.

4. Time is an ally, working on the side of growth in a period of development when life has a tremendous forward thrust. The brain is maturing in children and many just need a safe place to develop skills and competencies that might develop with time on their own.

5. Self-control can be taught and children and adolescents helped to manage their behavior without the development of psychodynamic insight. We are not psychotherapists nor are we a day treatment program, but all humans have behaviors that must be unlearned and replaced with more productive behavior, no matter the reason they occur.

6. Intelligence can be taught. Intelligence is a dynamic, evolving, and malleable capacity for making good choices in living. Problem-solving, both with academics and relationships, can and should be taught. Practice in making good choices is constant.

7. Feelings should be nurtured, shared spontaneously, controlled when necessary, expressed when too long repressed, and explored with trusted others. An atmosphere of honesty allows children to share through writing, drama, art and conversation. Constant coaching helps children learn to control the actions their feelings may cause.

8. The group is very important to young people, and it can become a major source of instruction in growing up. A healthy group can be a source of support and reinforcement to a struggling child. Older children can assist younger ones, thus gaining self-confidence in the process. Peers who cooperate rather than compete can be a source of strength and learning.

9. Ceremony and ritual give order, stability, and confidence to troubled children and adolescents, whose lives are often in considerable disarray. All people find comfort in predictability and ritual. Though out time, cultures have created rituals to help them through times of disequilibrium and transition, and so we do as well.

10. The body is the armature of the self, the physical self around which the psychological self is constructed. Children need to move, both in play, work and physical challenge, and all these are built into JRA’s program. It may be recess, gardening, sports coaching, working, or hiking, but movement is central to our program.

11. Communities are important for children and youth, but the uses and benefits of community must be experienced to be learned. Communities come with responsibilities as well as benefits, and so each child contributes each day by doing chores. Monthly service Fridays expand the community. Students help plan celebrations and support each other in many ways.

12. A child should know some joy in each day and look forward to some joyous event for the morrow. Every child should experience some joy in school every day, whether it’s a game at recess, mastering a difficult concept, reading with a dog, or celebrating one of our many holidays such as Squirrel Appreciation Day, King Tut Day, Jackie Robinson’s birthday, Cherry Pie Day, or World Penguin Day.

Is this something I can do myself? I'm not crazy. Wonderful people have come forward and there are more of you out there, people who may hold a small or large piece of this school and not even know it. We are in the process of forming a nonprofit and putting together a board of directors. While we will have to charge tuition, we want to have lots of scholarships so that all children who need this kind of setting can come. This is not a day treatment program for troubled kids; we want all kinds of children who need structure, consistency, movement, positivity, and strong academics.

Here are some needs:

1. a building; we are looking at one this week, but are open to all suggestions in Durham, Orange or northern Chatham.

2. financial donations, especially after we get nonprofit status.

3. donations of children's books, educational materials in good condition. We are especially interested in Saxon math materials and any math manipulatives.

4. Play tables

5. Someone to create a website

6. Someone to create a brochure

7. People who would be interested in serving on a committee: bylaws, curriculum, renovating and building (bookshelves, etc), fundraising, admissions, outreach, calendar

8. Prayers

9. Computer wizards and computers

10. People who can set up matching giving plans at their companies

11. Legos, K'nex, Lincoln Logs, any building toys, Playmobile sets, especially historical ones

12. Educational puzzles, especially wooden ones

13. Hot Dots materials

14. Wilson Reading systems materials, especially magnet boards and card packs

15. Office supplies such as staplers, paper cutters, scissors, markers, etc.

16. Corporate partners

17. students

We'd like to open in the fall 2010. What we want is a school for kids who could be superstars with the proper support and coaching. I know they are out there and I know most schools can't meet their needs. I have taught some in the past, I tutor some now, and I'm related to several. These kids can change the world if we can give them the leg up they need. Let me know if you want to help or you have a student who is a superstar in the making.