Archive for ‘School Culture’
Traditional or progressive?
A question often asked at Avenues parent information events is whether we are a traditional school or a progressive one. It’s a good question, especially in New York City, where private and independent schools tend to publicly proclaim their allegiance to one or the other More...
CATEGORY: Featured, School 2.0
Tags: Curriculum, School Culture
Do Teachers Need Instructional Coaches?
Good instruction is more important than race, gender, income or family background in producing student achievement. Avenues is hiring superior teachers, experts in instructional strategies, but is hiring “good” teachers enough? Does any professional in any profession reach More...
CATEGORY: School 2.0
Tags: Assessment, Faculty, School Culture
Morning Meeting
Morning meeting is a time set aside at the beginning of each school day for the teachers and students to come together in a group and set the day’s intentions and goals and to discover the events for the day. It’s also a time to create a true nurturing feeling of community More...
CATEGORY: Featured, School 2.0
Tags: Literacy, Math, School Culture
School Culture and a Commitment to Learning
Sara Mosle, in her review of Class Warfare, Steven Brill’s book on the school reform movement, takes issue with Brill’s focus on the quality of the teacher as the key factor in student performance. This argument, she says, “ignores the aggregate effect of student and parental attitudes. Children who don’t win a coveted spot at a program like KIPP don’t just miss the charter’s arguably better teachers; they also lose out on the More...
CATEGORY: School 2.0
Tags: Curriculum, School Culture
Faculty Culture
As the leadership team at Avenues took shape last fall and we met for successive planning retreats on Saturdays through the winter, we discussed, among many other things, the type of faculty culture we hoped to create, not only at our Chelsea campus but also at all future campuses abroad. Out of these discussions became what we now call “the faculty constitution.” It reflects our experiences at prior schools and our ambitions More...
CATEGORY: People
Tags: Faculty, School Culture
Building School Culture
Some years ago a British author published a small book called The School I Would Like , a compilation of young students’ reflections on what a perfect school might be. “No mean teachers” was in there, and, of course, “recess all day” showed up. But what was the most common suggestion? It was not about the history curriculum. It was, simply, “that everyone has a friend and someone to sit with at lunch.” Building a school is more More...
CATEGORY: Featured, School 2.0
Tags: School Culture