Community-Centered School

Design and Floor Plan

by

Shari Wickline
October 28, 2010 EDL -713

Design and Floor Plan Community-Centered School Grade Level Kindergarten through Third Grade Student to Teacher Ratio 15:1

The goals of the school are reached by implementing new strategies for creating four specific types of environments learner-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered and community-centered. The following school design focuses on developing a community-centered school that interconnects the other three areas of focus.

The school is located in a small, community-oriented town where everyone works together to create a variety of learning opportunities and enrichment programs to complement the schools goals for student achievement. The building has been designed to utilize the involvement of parents and community; to give teachers access to on-going collaboration between peers, administrators and outside sources. Parents are always welcome and encouraged to volunteer at the school, fulfilling various roles. Each classroom has a parent volunteer each day that assists with learning centers and classroom projects. Parents are also encouraged to take on the roles of lunchroom and office helpers and at any time, a parent can enjoy lunch with their child. A special station located inside the entrance is to check-in parent and community volunteers. Administrators, police and other community members play an active role in the school day. They are accessible to teachers, parents and students for collaboration and support and their regular presence gives the school a sense of importance and safety.

Another aspect of working with the community is to enhance lessons by providing the students real-world experiences. Whether it is by attending the school-based before and after
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school program designed to enrich what is taught throughout the day or by providing students with walking field trips around their community.

Once the collaboration between community, teachers and parents has been established, the students gain access to a school and classroom that is learner-centered. Classrooms work together to enhance each others learning. Tapping into a students prior knowledge and reaching them on an emotional level is important. Students in the higher grades mentor and teach younger students. This gives older students a great way to enhance what they are learning or have learned through re-teaching. The younger students benefit from being taught by peers and by the older students understanding of what they are learning. Students are not the only ones that learn from one another. Classroom teachers meet regularly to collaborate and learn from each others areas of specialty, setting goals for student and personal achievement and learning.

A library-media center is always available as a resource for teachers and students. It has been designed to be the hub of learning and training by providing teachers and students with extra resources. The library also provides mentoring and training to parents so that the learning process can continue positively at home.

There are two outdoor classrooms that can be used at any time by teachers or various outside agencies to provide enrichment programs for students. The programs are designed with the help of area nature and historical societies, giving a personal approach to what is being taught.

The classroom itself is very learner-friendly. It is a safe and comfortable place where each child feels welcome. The key to the rooms is to encourage each student to do their personal best. Each student is screened before a new concept to check for prior knowledge about a topic. Their learning and teaching is individualized for their ability level. Each student has personal space to work with media and manipulatives, as well as cooperative grouping, which gives the student different ways to learn and understand what is being taught.

Each grade has a reading and math specialist to assist teachers regularly with enrichment and remediation opportunities for students. The team meets and teaches classroom teachers the newest techniques and programs to teach subjects through an interdisciplinary approach.

Assessing student progress is done through a variety of means. Students keep portfolios that they help maintain. They document using rubrics, providing work samples of their choice and through summative testing. Project-based work is also used often to show that students have an understanding or have mastered how to apply what was learned to a real situation. Teachers also reflect and document personal growth and learning at a professional level. District standards must be met regularly and proof that ongoing collaboration and peer learning is taking place must be evident. The standards have been developed by the teachers, administrators and community (parents). Everyone plays a role in what is expected and in achieving academic success for the students. No one person is to blame if a child is not successful; it becomes a team effort to reach the students inner-most potential.

Bibliography Blumberg, P. (2009). Developing learner-centered teaching A Practical guide for faculty. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L & Cocking, R.R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn Brain, mind, experience and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Kaufeldt, M. (2010). Begin with the brain Orchestrating the learner-centered classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Martin-Kniep, G. O. (2004). Developing learning communities through teacher expertise. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Classroom Architect. (2000-2008). [Architectural illustration of classroom floor plans October 27, 2010]. ALTEC at the University of Kansas. Retrieved from http://classroom.4teachers.org/