visioning+weekend+final+document+5-3-09

1. These values guide the school and are non-negotiable:
=== a. We serve gifted students. b. We are child-centered. c. We consider each moment of a child's life precious, not as preparation. d. We respect, celebrate and accommodate asynchrony. e. We support academic, intellectual, affective, ethical and spiritual development. f. We support self-actualization and interdependence. === === 2. We are a supportive community of teachers, students, families, board members, administrators and staff who are committed to a culture of kindness, appreciation, and positivity for the good of the whole. All community members are learners and teachers. We support life-long learning in all community members. 3. We offer a fast-paced program with continuous progress that is both rigorous and fun, emphasizes creativity and conceptual learning, teaches skills nested within concepts, allows in-depth learning, focuses on strengths rather than weaknesses, accommodates asynchronous development, and allows students to go as far as they wish in learning. 4. We have multi-aged groups who pursue their passions, satisfy their intellectual curiosity, are involved in community service, work on real problems in the school and community, and develop their capacity to care. 5. We endeavor to find, hire, support and retain flexible, creative, loving teachers who share their passions, and expertise, and facilitate learning. 6. We recognize and nurture whole mind--imagination and intuition as well as intellect. 7. The facility and the world become an open studio for students to learn. === = IMPLEMENTATION FOR LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY =

Core Curriculum

 * 1)  Language Arts/Communication Skills
 * 2)  Reading
 * 3)  Science
 * 4)  Math
 * 5)  Social Studies
 * 6)  Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)
 * 7)  Academic Success Skills: Organization, research, independent learning skills
 * 8)  Critical and Creative thinking skills
 * 9)  Technology skills
 * 10)  Fine Arts
 * 11)  Wellness
 * 12)  Foreign Language

Instructional Delivery Strategies

 * 1)  Teacher-directed
 * 2)  Computer-taught
 * 3)  Individual and ability-based groupings
 * 4)  Continuous progress
 * 5)  Zone of proximal development
 * 6)  Differentiation
 * 7)  Interest groupings
 * 8)  Integrated technology
 * 9)  Multi-modal
 * 10)  Just-in-time versus just-in-case learning

Complementary Assessment

 * 1)  MAP
 * 2)  Observation
 * 3)  Portfolio
 * 4)  Teacher-generated assessment
 * 5)  Self-assessment
 * 6)  Process, products and performances

Emergent Curriculum
1. Teacher and student-created interdisciplinary learning experiences based on concepts and themes, which include: §  creativity §  discovery/constructivism §  critical thinking §  connective §  integrated §  conceptual §  project-based §  choice/passion-based §  problem-based §  explorative and experiential §  global, futuristic, ecological §  co-created §  social justice §  service learning §  ethics §  intuition §  imagination §  networking §  disciplinary §  interdisciplinary
 * 1)  Cutting-edge Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM):
 * 1)   Humanities
 * Interdisciplinary
 * History
 * Study of cultures
 * Philosophy
 * Comparative religions
 * Economics
 * Fine and performing arts
 * Sociology

Learning Strategies
§  mentorships and internships §  learner-directed §  constructivist §  studio-based §  expert as facilitator §  networking §  mobility: open movement between classrooms §  choice-based §  integrated technology §  collaboration §  integration of whole mind processes §  multi-modal instruction §  meetings with advisor to set weekly, monthly and yearly goals §  develop student expertise EVALUATION  RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING GOVERNANCE
 * 1)  The program will be evaluated internally on an ongoing basis and will be evaluated externally semi-annually.

 1. The Board should be composed of a balance of parent and nonparent community members.
2.  A Board Retreat is recommended to obtain training and orientation on roles and responsibilities of a not-for-profit governing board. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PARENT INVOLVEMENT 1.  Parent education will be an integral and ongoing part of RMS. There will be a parent orientation for all families to share the new vision of the school. 2.  Parents will be a welcome part of the learning environment. They may learn with their children and teach their passions. 3.  Once a month, school could be from 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM, so that parents can share a meal and become an active part of the learning community. 4.  Parents will understand the basic values of the school, and will respect the code of conduct. 5.  Service to the community is extremely appreciated and needed for the success of the school. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STAFFING 1.  Care needs to be taken in finding teachers and staff with the requisite skills for implementing both the core and the emergent curricula. 2.  Staff needs to be competent in the use of technology and comfortable with the involvement of technology in all aspects of learning. 3.  Experts-in-Residence will include specialists in fields related to the students’ interests. 4.  Investigate the possibility of recruiting gifted youth with bachelors’ degrees who will serve as teaching assistants or mentors. 5.  Extensive professional development will be required and funded. 6.  Networking is a priority and we expect teachers to share their knowledge with each other. Teachers also have access to a large cadre of professionals in gifted education. 7.  Teachers need to be supported in their own learning. 8.  The Education Director, a new position at RMS, will be responsible for implementing this program. This person needs to be a creative thinker who is knowledgeable in gifted education. The Education Director must be committed to this vision, aware of the increasing role of technology and capable of leading the staff in its implementation. FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS 1.  RMS will serve as a living demonstration school, embodying best practices in gifted education. 2.  RMS will develop a teacher-training program to share instructional practices with other schools and to provide professional development for staff. 3.  RMS will grow purposefully, implementing these ideas, revising them as necessary, and expanding them as the student body grows. 4.  RMS will develop a model that can be replicated in various parts of the world. 5.  Karen Rogers has offered to do research on the effectiveness of the model at RMS.