Small Learning Communities
Why Learning Communities?*
This building project will support flexible learning spaces that maximize student-teacher relationships to boost student growth and achievement.
Collaborative learning communities of teachers and staff who share no more than a few hundred students are a building block for future-focused schools. Communities pool their knowledge to create coherent and relevant instructional programs that challenge and engage every student. Dedicated building space enables more collaboration, reinforcing student identity and improving school safety.
Collaborative learning communities of teachers and staff who share no more than a few hundred students are a building block for future-focused schools. Communities pool their knowledge to create coherent and relevant instructional programs that challenge and engage every student. Dedicated building space enables more collaboration, reinforcing student identity and improving school safety.
- Small learning communities would include:
- Ninth-grade academies
- Multi-grade schools organized around academic and career interests
* From High Schools to Learning Communities: Five Domains of Best Practice. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2008.
Learning communities are not new to State High. For example, the Delta Program has functioned as an autonomous learning community for more than 35 years. State High’s new educational model could build on this knowledge and experience to include freshman academies that focus on relationships. Upper grade level academies would have a stronger emphasis on career exploration.
