Regarding life in Corbett Charter School:
Corbett Charter School was not founded with an eye toward mediocrity. There is nothing average in our aspirations for children. There is an expectation of quality in our school community, and that expectation is embodied in all of our decisions regarding life at school.
Although we have attempted to articulate our unique approach, we still hear 'the questions' from time to time: 'Where are the spelling tests?' 'When are you teaching cursive?' 'Why don't we see any homework?' 'Where are the math worksheets?' 'What about phonics?' Mind you, by the time these questions are put to teachers, they sometimes have an almost accusatory tone, sort of like "When are you going to wash those dishes?" They have the shape of questions, but somehow they don't sound like requests for information.
How to respond? Perhaps a jumping off point might be to marvel that anyone would drive all the way to Corbett Charter School in search of a classroom that slavishly duplicates the practices employed at 99% of all schools everywhere. This strikes me as an inefficient strategy, since those practices are available every few blocks throughout the metro area. We want to reward your commitment with something more.
At Corbett Charter School we believe that our time with your children is precious, and we realize that it is scarce. What is called 13 years of education is really little more than five years of working together spread across 13 calendar years. Recognizing that time is scarce, we want to put it to the best possible use, all day every day. And that means not spending our school days on activities that could be done at the kitchen table with a workbook from the local book seller. Particularly in the early grades, but also throughout our K-12 program, we want to provide experiences and cultivate understanding in ways that make use of and develop the classroom community. That is, after all, the great advantage to having more than one student in the room at a time!
There will be ample time for individual skill development in the context of doing something really interesting down the road, but that is not our focus in the early going. We believe that the quality of the learning community is critical to the long-term cultivation of intellect and that this community must be carefully established and artfully cultivated by means of our daily interactions and expectations. This is the true 'basic' of primary education.
So Corbett Charter School looks a little different. I am tempted to suggest that it simply has to be so. The primary wing could be considered a sort of mountaineering base camp. Veteran climbers don't charge up the mountain without adequate preparation. They study. They plan. They rehearse. And a successful climb is much more likely if the organizer has the patience and experience to deploy only a well-equipped, well trained team under the watchful eye of an expert guide who has already made the trip.
Corbett has five 9th graders in Advanced Placement Calculus this year. At least that many members of their graduating class will earn a full year of college during their five-and-a-third years spent in Corbett schools. Imagine that. The mountain is real. The rewards for success are tangible and substantial. We know the way up.
We appreciate the privilege of guiding your children.
