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HISTORY
The Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public School was started
in 1995 by a group of local parents, artists, and educators
who sought to bring an educational alternative to the rural
hill towns of western Massachusetts. These pioneers
were grounded in the belief that children are our most valuable
resource and schools, as a result, our most critical institution.
They felt the traditional elementary school structure did
not provide what is essential to the optimal education of
children: a partnership of parents, teachers, and students.
Our founders envisioned a school with the following five elements
(excerpted here from the school"s original charter school
application):
1. A child-centered approach to education.
"Creative thinking can best be encouraged in an environment
in which teachers are not mere dispensers of information but
rather models, resources and guides, helping children to develop
their own ideas and solutions" (Duckworth 157).
This relationship between teacher and student embraces the
innate curiosity and rich potential of each child, rather
than focusing on the student"s lacks and deficits.
It also accommodates a wide range of individual learning styles,
providing each child with the means to most effectively pursue
his or her individual learning.
2. A collaborative approach to education.
To maintain the motivation and self-esteem of teachers, they
must be empowered to make their own decisions and trusted
to direct their own teaching. A cooperative, interactive
school environment, in which teachers are not isolated but
are in dialogue with other teachers and administrators, allows
for a cross-fertilization of ideas and provides students with
a model of teamwork.
3. A thematically unified experiential curriculum
fully integrating the arts. This approach,
drawing from a pre-school model in Reggio Emilia, Italy, recognizes
the arts as "critical tools for creative learning and
self-expression" (WMHCSC 1994, 7). The arts
provide a unifying language with which to explore all subject
matters. Rather than dividing the curriculum into
discrete, scheduled subject units with rigid time constraints,
the curriculum emerges from students" interests and is
linked through the study of general themes (rivers, for example).
Beginning with student interests and integrating the curriculum
heightens the learning process and allows students to see
the interconnectedness between the sciences and the humanities.
4. Family involvement as integral to the educational
process. Parents are critical to the successful
education of their children. But in most schools,
there is not an open door policy; parents are not welcome
in the classroom at any time. Moreover, because
a curriculum is prescribed, there is less room for parents
to add their expertise or bring in what they can offer.
A successful school environment must provide parents with
ample opportunities for in-depth, meaningful connection with
their children"s experiences.
5. A school experience integrated into the rich
fabric of our community and rural environment. Stimulating
scientific material lies just beyond the walls of any school.
In the hill towns, there is a wealth of wilderness and agricultural
resources. Utilizing these resources not only offers
new curriculum opportunities; it also fosters respect for
the earth.
The founders set out to create a learning environment with
an emergent curriculum, integrative arts, and a high level
of community involvement, all of which would build students"
self-esteem, enhance critical thinking, and encourage curiosity.
Charter School legislation afforded us the opportunity to
demonstrate the effectiveness of such an education, in a public
school unburdened by traditional hierarchies and systems.
This child-centered approach, focusing on the needs of individual
children and following their creative impulses, became the
backbone of Hilltown"s educational philosophy, and was
complimented by the school"s commitment to governance
by a parent cooperative using a consensus model for decision-making
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