 |
|
Tapestry Charter School, in partnership with Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound, will open a new, small high school in September 2006. The school will admit 48 freshmen in 2006 and 72 freshmen in 2007, with 72 students in the freshman class each year thereafter. By 2010, the school will reach its maximum size of 288 students. The school will be partially funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which will support extensive staff development in the model of Expeditionary Learning and exemplary pedagogy. Teachers will be valued as professionals and will be expected to contribute to school decision making and the creation of school culture.
Expeditionary Learning is a comprehensive school design that emphasizes active and engaging instructional practices that promote equity, high expectations, and rigorous, in-depth curricula. The curriculum is enhanced by learning expeditions, which are characterized by interdisciplinary, literacy-rich, inquiry-based studies that lead a diverse group of students to create meaningful products for authentic audiences. Between trimesters, students will be offered Intensives, which are 5-day elective courses with individualized opportunities for improving academic skills in areas of need. Also central to Expeditionary Learning design are practices that foster school culture and character development. School structures will provide time for effective student and adult learning, and time for knowing students well.
In addition to meeting NYS graduation requirements for a Regents diploma, students at Tapestry Charter High School will create and maintain a Portfolio, which they will formally present to a panel at the end of their 10th grade year (Passage Portfolio) and their 12th grade year (Graduation Portfolio). The school will provide rigorous academic preparation and requisite support in heterogeneous classrooms, with the goal of college readiness for all students.
Each core academic teacher at Tapestry Charter High School will be responsible for preparation of one course for 72 students and will have only 750 minutes of class time per week. This contrasts with the typical public high school teacher load of 2 to 3 class preps, 125-150 students, and 1000 minutes of teaching class time. Therefore, teachers will be expected to know their students well and to provide remedial support and enrichment suggestions for their own students, with close knowledge of the student's progress through the learning standards.
Teachers will be given fixed time in their weekly schedule for communication as a Grade Level Team and for interdisciplinary teaming with other staff members (art, language, etc.). This time will include discussion of student progress and needed support efforts.
General Responsibilities of Teachers
• Collaborate with colleagues to create and implement interdisciplinary
• learning expeditions, an enhancement to the curriculum at the school.
• Expeditions must align with NYS Learning Standards, the school-wide
• curriculum map, and portfolio and graduation requirements.
• Incorporate explicit literacy instruction (reading and writing) into
• content-area lesson plans.
• Collaborate with colleagues in the development of the school-wide
• curriculum map, school structures, and school culture.
• Design and implement Intensives for delivery during the 5 days between
• trimesters.
• Develop and implement detailed plans for Crew, which is a small-group
• advisory period that meets at least four times weekly. In Crew, teachers will
• work with the same group of 12-14 students for at least 2 years, in efforts that
• are supportive of student learning, and in keeping with the school's priorities
• and structures (for example, culture building, wellness planning, student-led
• conference preparation, portfolio creation, exhibition of student work
• preparation, internship support).
• Participate in adventure and Outward Bound wilderness-based activities
• with students (including a week-long Outward Bound Course at the end of
• summer/start of school year; other wilderness activities during the year).
• Participate in ongoing professional development, which includes a
• regularly scheduled study group focusing on effective instructional practice.
• Attend regional and national professional development offerings by
• Expeditionary Learning, as appropriate. Spring and Summer training will be
• expected in 2006.
• Attend biweekly Design Team meetings from March to July 2006. The
• meetings will be 2 hours long and will be scheduled in late afternoon.
General Qualifications for Teaching Positions
• Valid and current Grade 7 - 12 NYS Teacher's Certification in the
• content area in which you will teach.
• Willingness to implement an interdisciplinary approach to teaching
• content standards that infuses literacy, the arts and technology.
• Deep understanding of content area concepts.
• Deep understanding and interest in constructivist, investigative
• teaching and learning.
• Willingness to teach multiple grade levels.
• Willingness to make appropriate accommodations for students with
• basic skill deficits and disabilities.
• Willingness to remediate students in your content area.
• Willingness to serve a student advisory role through Crew leadership.
• Willingness to take responsibility for communication with students'
• families regarding academic progress.
Preferred Qualifications for Teaching Positions
• 3 years teaching experience at the high school level.
• Experience with a range of content in your subject area.
• Experience utilizing community experts and community resources
• to enhance content instruction.
• Experience integrating literacy in your subject area.
• Experience with project-based teaching and learning.
• Experience integrating the arts and technology into your content area.
• Experience with an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning.
• Experience with inclusion of special education students in the
• general education setting.
• Willingness to oversee/advise extracurricular activities (for example,
• student clubs or sports activities).
• Willingness to work with students before or after school to support
• their academic growth.
Staff Reading List
Daniels H, Bizar M, Zemelman S. Rethinking High School: Best Practice in Teaching, Learning, and Leadership. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2000, 320 pp. (www.rethinkinghighschool.com)
Daniels H, Bizar M. Teaching the Best Practice Way: Methods That Matter, K - 12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 2004, 360 pp.
Delpit LD. Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. New York: The New Press, 1996, 206 pp.
DuFour R, DuFour R, Eaker R, Karhanek G. 2004. Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don't Learn. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service, 2004.
DuFour R, Eaker R, DuFour R, eds. On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service, 2005.
Kozol J. 1991. Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools. New York: HarperCollins, 1992, 272 pp.
Levine M. Keeping A Head In School: A Student's Book About Learning Abilities and Learning Disorders. Cambridge MA: EPS, 1990.
Levine M. A Mind at a Time. Cambridge MA: EPS, 2002.
Meier D. 2002. The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons for America from a Small School in Harlem. Boston: Beacon Press, 2002, 208 pp.
Sizer TR. 1984. Horace's Compromise: The Dilemma of the American High School. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2004, 257 pp.
Sizer, TR. 1992. Horace's School: Redesigning the American High School. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1997, 256 pp.
Sizer TR. The Red Pencil: Convictions from Experience in Education. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004.