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Why should we have charter schools in the community?
| Charter schools offer an opportunity to involve parents, students, community members and staff in the education process in new and meaningful ways. It also gives parents another education option. |
Can charter schools provide quality education?
| Charter schools, unlike traditional public schools, are academically accountable on two counts. First, they must declare from the outset what their academic goals will be. In order for their charter to be granted, the charter granting body must determine that these goals are sound and can be objectively assessed. In order for the charter to be renewed, they must meet or exceed those goals. Public schools, by contrast, are generally opened or closed based on the demographic developments of the community, without regard for academic delivery. Secondly, charter schools are a choice: families must elect to enroll their children, and can remove them at their own discretion as well. In most traditional public schools, a parent who feels the school is not properly educating his or her child, and has not been responsive to such concerns, has little recourse except to continue to appeal to the school and district to change. The district school feels little or no impact on its operation whether it delivers a solid education or not. In a charter school, on the other hand, if a child is failing to learn, a parent can remove him or her from the school, along with the child's public education funds, without explanation or apology. A charter school that neglects its academic duties will soon find that its enrollment has dwindled, and it will be forced to shape up to maintain enrollment and budget. |
How do charter schools operate when free of traditional public school district and state regulations?
| Charter schools must operate within the provisions of state and federal law. They must abide by health, safety and civil rights laws, and cannot discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex or national origin. Charter school employees are subject to background checks to uncover any criminal activity. Charter governance bodies are subject to various business regulations. Charter schools must also abide by the provisions of their own charter. They must submit annual reports to the parents and community, their sponsoring body and the state, detailing their compliance with the charter under which they operate. Charter schools, as schools of choice, must meet at all times the high standards that parents are seeking for their children. Charter schools must employ quality, qualified teachers. |
Does it cost something to send my child to a charter school?
| No, a charter school is a public school. Therefore, there is no cost involved in sending your child to a charter school. |
Won't the charter school take support and resources away from the area public school districts?
| Charter schools ARE public schools and they operate in the interest of public school students. They use funds and other resources intended, and designated by the tax-paying public, for educating students. We cannot pass a building bond referendum or pass an excess operating levy. School districts confident of their educational delivery have nothing to fear from charter schools. They will impose no more of a financial impact on an academically sound district than do the normal demographic shifts to which any community is subject. No school district in the state of Minnesota has "gone under" because of a charter school. |
The Crosslake School has multi-age classes. What does that mean?
| Multi-age refers to the physical grouping of students as well as a philosophy about the best way to achieve outcomes for them. Students are grouped so that the age span of the class is greater than one year. Programs are planned which are developmentally appropriate for each student regardless of their age or grade level. The multi-age philosophy recognizes that students learn better when they have role models they can turn to for assistance, and when they are able to practice their skills by demonstrating to others. This cannot happen in a single grade class. The multi-age class is based on a more family-oriented structure where difference is accepted, and nurturing is valued and encouraged. |
How are students taught in a multi-age class?
| In a multi-age class, students are taught in groupings that maximize the potential of their learning. Teachers take advantage of the range of experiences, knowledge and skills of the group to develop programs where the outcomes for students are open-ended. This means that students learn from the teacher and each other, and the teacher plans for, and expects different outcomes for each child dependent upon these stages of development. |
Won't my child get bored learning the same thing 2 years in a row?
| Basic skills, such as learning letter names and sounds, and learning to count are taught in groups of students according to their needs. This gives all students a chance to work at their level. |
Will my older child be expected to "teach" the younger children?
| As in any class, the responsibility for the teaching rests with the teacher. In a multi-age class, older students naturally want to help younger students and frequently do so. Research has shown that when students teach information and skills to their classmates, their academic performance improves. They reinforce their own knowledge and skills, which in turns builds their self-confidence and self-esteem and they come to a better understanding of the subject matters. |
Won't my younger child be overwhelmed by the older, more competent children?
| Older students often spontaneously comfort and nurture the younger students. Most students are sensitive to the needs of those that are younger and want to help them fit in. They show them where everything is, help them to read and write, play with them and look after them on the playground, and enable them to accomplish tasks far more complex than if they were in a single grade class. In a multi-age class, younger and less able students have their needs met much more quickly and more often. |
Won't my young child pick up bad behavior from the older children?
| Because the older children fulfill a nurturing role, there are less behavior problems in the multi-age classrooms. The older students tend to self-regulate their behavior in order to provide good examples. Also, the fact that all the older student's practice being leaders in the class helps to alleviate the pressure between older students competing for the role of "boss" in the classroom. The aggressive and domineering behavior that often leads to friction between children is not a problem. |
How do teachers manage to teach all the different age levels?
| Teachers in a multi-age class are very aware of each student as an invidual. They focus on what each student knows, and needs to know, rather than on the body of information that has to be transmitted to the class. Because students remain with their teachers for more than one year, teachers get to know each child very well. Teachers use strategies such as personal learning plans, team teaching, grouping for skill learning, cooperative learning groups, interest groups, peer tutoring, anad one to one instruction. |
What about my gifted child?
| Students in multi-age classes learn to take responsibility for their learning from the beginning. They are encouraged to set goals and challenges for themselves and the teachers facilitate whatever it is they need to achieve them. Students are often allowed to move to another class for certain subjects if they need more challenges. |
How will my special needs student be provided for?
| Crosslake School must follow all state guidelines for special needs services. Special needs students will receive the required help, but the labels tend to disappear within the classroom. All students are judged on their personal development level and differences are accepted by the students. Multi-age classes help blend the age and ability differences that are obvious in one-grade classes, and the kids are very accepting of the differences within their classroom, because they expect them. Charter schools often work to reduce their special education rolls not by excluding such students, but by working intensively with them within the regular classroom setting. They take all students, but resist the ever-growing district practice of labeling all difficult or low-achieving children as "special education" just in an effort to get them out of the regular classroom or pick up additional special education funds. |
How will the arts (music, art, phy ed) be taught?
| All Minnesota licensed teachers are qualified to teach these subjects. Crosslake and the surrounding area have a tremendous resource of parents and community members that have expertise in these areas. Currently, each teacher teaches "specials". One teaches phy-ed to all students, one teachers Spanish, one teaches music and one teaches art. This allows every teacher to know every student in the school on a personal basis. |
How will my child get to school?
| Crosslake Community School contracts with the Pequot Lakes School District to provide transportation. We will follow the "open enrollment" guidelines. Students living within the Pequot Lakes School District will be bused to the charter school. If you live outside the district lines, you may drive your student to the district line to meet a bus. We also currently have our own bus that comes from Pine River. |
What school calendar do you follow?
| The Crosslake School must follow state guidelines for student contact days. We will follow the Pequot Lakes School calendar because of the bussing schedule. |
How much tuition do you charge?
| The Crosslake Community School is a free public education choice school. We do not charge a fee to attend our school. |
How is a charter school different from a traditional school?
| A charter school has greater flexibility to address the needs of their students. An example would be the ability to limit our class sizes to 19. So it is possible for a charter school to have a waiting list when a class is full. Since the school board of a charter school consists of a combination of teachers and parents, there is a faster response to making curriculum changes to meet the needs of the students. A charter school also has a specific focus where a traditional school does not. |
How is a charter school like a traditional school?
| A charter school is required to be compliant in all the same areas of meeting state educational standards, testing, teacher licensing, and financial reporting. |
What general information can you tell me about your school?
| We start at 8:35 and end at 3:15. We have multi-age classes that range from kindergarten through 8th grade. We have a full music and physical education program, including band and choir for the upper grades. We own our transportation system, which allows us to determine our bus routes. We currently run routes from North Merrifield to Pine River. We are an environmentally focused school. |
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