Academics
The purpose of a charter school is to provide parents with an opportunity to explore innovative ways to address the educational needs of their children. We at Southwest Baltimore Charter School have strived to create an academic design whose appeal crosses our city's racial, economic, and ethnic lines. We have developed a highly personalized, experiential curriculum with an inclusive approach to involving parents and the community, and with a strong focus on building human, social, and financial capital.
The following tenets have guided our development of curricula and school culture:
Experiential learning designed to allow children to use all their senses to construct and retain knowledge:
All curricula selected emphasize experiential learning through.
- field trips
- authentic reading and writing tasks
- constructivist learning experiences
Constructivist theory requires that students complete activities designed to help them construct knowledge for themselves rather than simply receive information passively.
School-wide, thematic units that will both foster academic community and allow for in depth study of a topic from many facets and perspectives:
We will offer instruction based on school-wide, thematic units with multi-age themes.
- three teams (grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-8) will work together to explore each theme
- themes will last for a trimester, allowing in depth study of a topic from many facets and perspectives
- themes for the 2006-2007 year are "Under the Sea," "First Marylanders," and "Mapping."
Differentiated instruction using Personal Instruction Plans to meet children where they are and to move them forward:
We will use differentiated instruction to meet the varied needs of our students. Every child in Southwest Baltimore Charter School will have a personalized instruction plan (PIP).
- all children-even extremely academically competent ones-have "special needs"
- each child's needs must be monitored and addressed individually
Parental Involvement Opportunities designed to tap into SBCS parents' broad range of skills and talents, and to keep parents involved in the school in a meaningful way:
Research demonstrates that there is no greater influence than parental involvement on a student's success in school.
- we will work to engage parents in their children's daily academic lives
- we will expressly require parental involvement in homework
- we will request that parents and students sign Expectations Contracts. detailing best homework practices, parent volunteering, student attendance and the like
- we will perform home visits and ask parents to attend school events, further embedding academic culture into the family's daily activities
Social capital curriculum designed to develop the educational, professional, and personal networks of students and families in the southwest Baltimore community:
Our social capital curriculum will empower children with knowledge not only of how finances work in various cultures, but also of the value of working together for the benefit of all. Students will also develop personal capital in the form of individual skills and abilities to be used throughout their lives.
Choice Theory, an approach to behavior management that teaches children to be intrinsically rather than extrinsically motivated, and guides children in making choices that will lead to personal success.
Southwest Baltimore Charter School: where academics, family, and community come together!
