The River Road School is accepting students into grades 4-9 for our first school year in September 2014.
Our school is a learning community serving grades 4-9, their parents and the teachers that guide their education. Here, each individual has a special place. The education develops the intellectual skills of our students, as well as their artistic, musical and physical skills. Students and teachers alike are immersed in a rich learning experience, guided by individual interests and community-wide themes. The tapestry of humanity flows through our curriculum, as students explore the great thoughts and events of history, works of art, literature and music, and scientific discovery. Cultural learning is explored through art, music, poetry, and composition. Indoor and outdoor classrooms offer beautiful and comfortable environments, designed to facilitate student exploration, discussions and learning. Students are supported in developing a strong ability to work inwardly, as well as a grounding in the concrete meaning around them.
Core academic skills, including math, grammar, writing, spelling, reading and factual knowledge are rigorously developed and practiced at the level of the individual learner. Students explore concepts through hands-on applications, utilizing a variety of intelligences. Concepts and skills are introduced in small group meetings with a teacher and practiced individually with self-correcting activities. Mastery is assessed when students can teach others the skill they have learned. In this way, learning is highly collaborative across the ages of our students. They work together facilitating the community enthusiasm about learning.
Humanities, arts and integrated sciences from the foundation of our curriculum. Lessons are imbued with story, music and poetry. Students experience the events of history through the stories of their teacher, historical fiction, primary source documents and classic literature. They explore their understanding through creating artwork, memorizing poetry, writing narrations and compositions, dramatic reinactments, field trips, learning music associated with the time and culture and working with maps and timelines. Individual research projects invite students to take the study forward, following their own interest, then bringing the knowledge back to the community.
Students explore the natural world, closely observing and journaling on what they experience. Scientific knowledge emerges from first hand experience of the world. They become experts on the here and now. Living books and presentations from teachers take us deeper into what we cannot see, maintaining a reverence for the world beyond us. Projects develop from student interests and the needs of the school community, arising from the school's commitment to permaculture and sustainability.
The arts curriculum integrates practical arts, visual arts, performance and music. Students develop their abilities as capable at woodworking, handwork, gardening, cooking and metalworking. They paint, sculpt and draw. They dance, participate in theater, play instruments and sing. Singing, poetry and music are woven throughout the day and integrated into the community. Students learn that they can bring beauty to the world and express themselves in many ways.
The outdoor program is a foundational aspect of the school curriculum. We recognize a deep need for children to spend large amounts of time in nature and connected to the natural world. Our students play and freely explore in the woodlands, have many classes in our outdoor settings and learn from the natural world. Wilderness and athletic skills are developed alongside academics, strengthening the physical body. The garden is a core classroom at the school. Students experience their importance as the contribute to daily chores, caring for the animals, garden and school building.
At the core of our community is the value that students are respected. Their thoughts, interests and self-knowledge contribute to their educational experience and that of the community. They are expected to take responsibility for their work and their thoughtful contributions, physical, artistic and academic. Teachers bear the same responsibilities and recognize themselves as participants in education. Our teachers bear the responsibility for their own continued growth and learning, as models of developing human beings.
Teachers are guided by love for the students and observation of who they are and what they need. They are guides that open the world to the student, introducing new ideas and creating opportunities for students to explore their own interests. Teachers actively pursue their own knowledge by engaging in and sharing their own research, taking music, art and movement lessons as part of the school day and participating in school-wide humanities and literature studies. We believe that if students and teachers are nourished by life-giving daily rhythms, delicious meals, enriching stories and studies, music, movement and artistic experiences, the community itself will be healing for all. Depleated teachers cannot give life, therefore nourishing teachers, that they may nourish students, is at the core of our mission.
The rhythms of the day allow students to sink deeply into their work, play and life at school. We believe that education is part of life and strive to create a life-like environment. Ample time is allotted for practical, artistic and academic work through the day. There are times of coming together as a community, for group meetings, lessons and discussion. There are then times for deeply immersing in independant or small group work, with teachers available for support. Learning should emerge through the study of great thinking, exploration of the environment and immersion in images. Working side by side with adults and students of various ages, authentic learning experiences permeate the community.
Responsibility, independance and initiative are core values we develop in our students. Numerous community and environmental service projects help our students experience the deep satisfaction and empowerment of meeting a need in the world. We strive to develop a curiosity and thirst for knowledge, one that inspires our students to take practical action towards discovering what they need to know. Learning skills are cultivated as we ask questions and seek our answers. Students see themselves as active participants in their own learning, the learning of their peers, the work of community and the world.
Our curriculum is overarchingly integrated and interdisciplinary. Projects and learning opportunities emerge at the intersection of humanities themes, individual interest and the "here and now". Our learning is continually evolving, according to the community.
The River Road School is committed to awakening a deep connection to nature, the depth and breadth of human knowledge, and personal and social responsibility in the young people of today. Our mission is to provide an education that is at once meaningful, integrated, experiential, individualized and academically rich, with sustainability at the core of the curriculum. We strive to provide artistic growth, practical work, academic skill and opportunities for compassionate service in an enlivening natural setting.
