Built around you

If we hope to make a difference in education, our program must be built around you - our children.  It is not built around the program, the initiatives, the curriculum... - it is built around the needs of children.  Flexibility is in order-  day to day, minute to minute - ready and prepared to meet the challenges of student needs, ready to change directions, ready to stray from status quo.  Sometimes in education, we get things backwards - we start with the curriculum and the tests and the initiatives and the focus lessons and try to build student needs around those.  Instead, we should BEGIN with student needs.  Student needs become the root that holds everything else in place.  Curriculum, programs, and initiatives grow from student needs.

The needs of our children are many.  Sometimes we feel powerless to meet those many needs.  It must begin with one small step.  We are taking one small step, hoping that we can address the needs of children and equity in education.  What will our building look like?  Well, what do children need?  They need to have their basic needs met such as food, shelter, and clothing.  Children need love.  Children need guidance and direction.  We can't focus on just one part of the child, if we hope to make a difference in the life of a child - we have to look at the whole child.  Just focusing on math and reading is not going to give our children what they need to sustain the battles of life.  Our children need to be allowed to play and be curious.  Children need to learn how it is that we serve others.  They need to be able to interact with peers who are different from themselves.  I could go on and on.  So we consider the needs of children and build our program around those needs.

We also believe that our children need God.  Their spiritual well being is a major part of the whole child.  So we plan a faith based program based on a God who gives us unconditional love and forgiveness and welcomes children into His family.  

We want to build our program around YOU - our children!  That is our hope!

BEcky