Wellness is an integrated curriculum combining aspects of traditional health classes with physical education, games, fitness skills and other mind-body connection skills. The goals of the Wellness program developed by members of the Parker community are: to develop and nurture resilience; to foster and promote healthy decision-making and action; and to enhance personal and social responsibility among all community members.
Classroom management. Two words that can make or break a teacher, a student, or a school. The management of behavior and logistics in a classroom is, for many, the cornerstone of instruction. Veteran teachers can recall classroom management strategies that drew on rewards, punishments, combinations of the two, and a good healthy dose of fear from time to time. It
Fires in The Middle School Bathroom: Advice to Teachers from Middle Schoolers by Kathleen Cushman and Laura Rogers (New Press, 240 pages, $24.95), reviewed by Angelis Baez “When we come to school really upset at something, just not in the mood, and it does affect a lot of things. Teachers do not even ask to see what’s wrong; they just
The Antioch Center for School Renewal Antioch University New England 40 Avon Street Keene, New Hampshire 03431-3516 telephone: 603.283.2301 email: ACSR@antiochne.edu www.antiochne.edu/ACSR Bayview Essential School of Music, Art and Social Justice c/o Coalition of Essential Schools 1330 Broadway, Suite 600 Oakland, California 94612 telephone: 510.433.1842 email: mbenitez@essentialschools.org www.myspace.com/bayviewschool Compass School 7892 US Route 5 PO Box 177 Westminster Station, Vermont
Editor’s Note: At the time of print publication, the Bayview Essential School for Music, Art and Social Justice was on track to open in August 2008. Developments since have delayed the school’s opening until 2009. In August 2008, the Bayview Essential School for Music, Art and Social Justice (BES) will open in San Francisco as a public high school. BES
At the end of each trimester at Compass School, classes are suspended for week-long immersions in rich, problem-based learning experiences. During Health Week, Community Service Winter Term (which we call Winterm,) and Project Week, students are involved in travel, meeting local community needs, and doing in-depth projects and explorations. One of these weeks, Health Week, is devoted entirely to wellness-related
Eagle Rock School’s fundamental philosophy is “eight plus five equals 10,” our school value system that we use to inform all community and school decisions. The equation represents our eight themes, five expectations, and 10 commitments. One of the eight themes is physical fitness, and one of the 10 commitments is “Develop Mind, Body, and Spirit.” While we incorporate opportunities
Though Horace has existed for 24 years as the cartographer of the Coalition of Essential Schools’ terrain, this issue marks the first time we have explored the connection between health and Essential schools. The lessons of mapmaking and “discovery” apply, of course; unmapped and unexplored regions are often very much alive with culture and history. That we have not thought
Small Schools: Public School Reform Meets the Ownership Society by Michael Klonsky and Susan Klonsky (Routledge, 209 pages, $26.95), reviewed by Jill Davidson Mike and Susan Klonsky’s Small Schools: Public School Reform Meets the Ownership Society deserves to have sunscreen stains on its pages and sand within as an unlikely recommended summer read for CES network educators. Okay, if there’s
Wellness is written into the very bones of The Native American Community Academy (NACA). The school’s triumvirate mission includes integrated curriculum, cultural/language context, and a wellness philosophy. This philosophy encompasses a holistic approach to each student and considers his or her intellectual, physical, social, emotional, and community relationship wellness. In the beginning stages of the development of NACA, principal and
Unnatural Causes Unnatural Causes is a seven-part documentary on health equity that aired on PBS in March 2008 and is available on DVD. The documentary’s episodes provide a nuanced grounding in a wide variety of issues that affect the health of individuals, communities, and the United States. Unnatural Causes’ accompanying website provides a wealth of supporting material: transcripts, video clips,
It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them. – Leo Buscaglia This past fall at the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School, after finishing the dreaded mile run, many of my middle school students took the opportunity to spend a half