When Elissa and I arrived at Village Prep today, we were informed that we would be helping out with a tour that going to be given to visitors from Detroit. These four visitors were developing a similar charter school in Detroit. We began our day by taking them to observe “Unity Circle,” a weekly Village Prep meeting in which the Kindergarten and first grade classes get together and sing and cheer. Each classroom at Village Prep has the name of a college, because from Kindergarten, college is ingrained in the children's minds and encourages them to excel academically throughout their years at Village Prep, E-Prep, and beyond. Unity Circle is an especially exciting time of the week, because it gives the kids a chance to let loose and cheer for their "College", which is something they rarely get to do at such a strict school. After the singing, dancing, and cheering, Elissa and I had tears in our eyes as the teachers handed out “Humanitarian awards” to students in each class who demonstrate compassion and integrity. The six and seven year-old students beamed as they help up their "Humanitarian medals" and it was a special meeting to witness. Later, we took the visitors to observe a Kindergarten and first grade class and they were fascinated by the discipline and academic vigor that the students and classes demonstrated. They were also very interested in the technology at Village Prep. From as young as Kindergarten, students learn to use computers for educational games and reading exercises during the day. Since I am obviously more familiar with Hawken than Village Prep, their fascination gave me a nice segue to talk about my own high school and the upcoming tablet program at Hawken. They were also very intrigued by Hawken's approach to learning. As they kept asking questions about Hawken, I realized how familiar and comfortable I am at the school and how much I'm going to miss it. I also realized that I should probably stop talking about my own school and continue talking about Village Prep. After the classroom visits, Elissa and I sent them off to lunch and worked on arts and crafts projects that were needed in the Kindergarten and first grade classrooms. As the day progressed, we were delightfully informed that Fridays are Village Prep and E-Prep's early dismissal days. We were quite excited, since our days begin at 7:30 a.m. in the morning! We wished everyone a good spring break and left the school, talking about how much we are enjoying our project and how friendly and welcoming everyone has been. Next week I will be headed to Hawken Lower School, where I went elementary school, to help out in Mrs. Holtz's Kindergarten classroom and Elissa will be headed off to Agnon, where she went to elementary school. I'm looking forward to seeing my old teachers and comparing the education systems in private schools vs. charter schools, like Village Prep and E-Prep!
Attached is a picture of two kids in Kindergarten at their computers during the school day.
It's funny that you were giving a tour and found yourself talking about hawken! Havw fun next week in your old schools.
ReplyDeleteSraB
Aw! Working with them sounds like so much fun! I've always wondered what charter schools were like. Sounds like they're doing good things there. I love the idea of getting them thinking about the idea of going to college from the time they're young, because especially in inner city areas (I have no idea where these schools are but it sounds like they have this on their minds) lots of people don't have lots of family who went to college or even graduated from high school, so it's not something that they expect themselves to be able to achieve.
ReplyDelete