Our Mission

THE SCHOOL

The School is a place of joy and a place of discovery. It is a place to ascertain and support the gifts and talents that are in line with a student’s interests and strengths.

The School is a Place to SHINE and to find JOY. Resources, opportunities to foster, share what they self-discover, collaborate with peers and their mentors, and dive into research with their facilitators, mentors, and community is the goal. Students also work cross-collaboratively in math, science, literature, social studies, music, art, sports, and other areas of interest.

THE COMMUNITY

The school is actively integrated within the community through the work of our On the Ground Facilitators who:

• Work with Parents, Community Members, Mentors, In-Class Facilitators
• They also work with students within each class
• The goal of the On-the-Ground Facilitators is help students to focus on their interests, make connections, and begin the journey within their classes, and in their projects that focus on the power of their self-discovery, and on how to showcase what they create. Creating these connections and building upon them create positive change, a growing understanding that is applicable, and self-efficacious development for all!

Mentors provide students with opportunities to be in the community learning, participating, and being in-service, alongside their mentors. Mentors are artisans and experts from all over the community as well as on-line and are acquired according to student interest. The goal is to acquire specialists from areas of student interests including, but certainly not limited to art, food, sports, languages, architecture, money, business, crafts, graphic arts, and so much more!

The School is not the only place for students to learn. Rather, it is a place to facilitate what is valuable to learn about, as well as to discover how and where to access new, exciting, and personalized resources that can activate and perpetuate student interest and success.  Allowing young people to innovate and own their ideas, while gaining their perception of self, others, and the world is a powerful recipe for success. Students can see and understand who they are, and that their voices, actions, and beliefs matter.

Allowing students to think beyond a classroom text and expand their knowledge into the realm of community service is a powerful human, and intellectual experience. They are encouraged to problem-solve for the issues that they see around them. In fact, they are encouraged to look around them and begin to discover, for themselves, how vital their place, and their choices on this Earth can really be.

THE FUTURE

By the time the student begins to look toward their future beyond The School, they will begin to realize that they have a portfolio of projects, community connections, and original products that express something so much more than grades, which are not a focus of our school. Instead, they will be able to express who they are and who they continue to become: a complete person who understands and recognizes his/her: skills, talents, interests, accomplishments, abilities, strengths, and who knows how to take risks, push through struggles, find difficulty to be challenging and rewarding, and who can discover people, information, and tools to help them to excel.

One of the most powerful aspects of The School is that we stay for and with our students. They do not leave us for another school. We stay with them as they transition through to college, university, or to begin their own business, or a vocation of their choice.