CURRICULUM PHILOSOPHY

At Monarch Community School we believe that for a school to operate effectively, its staff, parents, and students need to have a shared educational philosophy. We believe that learning is a lifelong process, that we are all learners, (students, teachers, and parents alike), and that there are developmental stages of social and academic maturity. People learn best from hands-on experiences both individually and in multi-age groups. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we must feel safe and cared for in order to develop to our fullest potential.

At Monarch, we believe that learning happens best when we are all working together, (students, teachers, and parents), to develop a rich learning environment spanning home, school, and the greater community. We are committed to providing a developmentally appropriate learning environment in which students are 'constructing' their own knowledge connected to their real lives and building upon their prior experiences. We believe that students learn best when they are involved and engaged in purposeful learning in which they have:

• Ownership and responsibility

• A balance of choice and direction, experience and practice

• Knowledgeable guides (adults, parents, mentor students)

At Monarch, we nurture a culture of respect, where each individual works toward his or her personal best both academically and socially.

What follows are descriptions of the Guiding Principles and Practices that are rooted in our assumptions about learning and bring our philosophy to life. They are generally broken down into three component areas: 1) Social-Emotional Curriculum, 2) Academic (cognitive) Curriculum, and 3) Shared Governance/Community Relationships.

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL CURRICULUM

The social-emotional curriculum is the foundation of our program. It is based on our beliefs about what is important for the social and emotional functioning of the school community. Our first and foremost goal is to create a healthy environment of mutual respect and dignity for both children and adults. This foundation gives the academic curriculum a place to root itself and grow.

ACADEMIC (COGNITIVE) CURRICULUM

With a strong and stable social-emotional curriculum as a foundation, the academic curriculum offers the students the framework to stretch themselves intellectually. Over the years at Monarch students progress from learning skills, to developing and mastering these skills and then applying them. Through experiential learning they broaden and deepen their understanding of themselves and the world around them.

SHARED GOVERNANCE AND COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS 

In order for the social emotional and academic components to flourish many different systems and activities must function behind the scenes. We are a small, public school with limited funding. In order to provide the variety of education options and small group instruction we feel is critical to student learning we need a committed parent community who are highly involved in the education of our students and the running of our school. At Monarch it really does take the whole village to raise a child.