A Utah County School: Project 2

Our desires for a Utah County charter school are being revived. We are now seeking Board Members for a charter school to be located in Provo. The application will be based on the same principles as the forerunner school Pacific Heritage Academy. The application will be submitted in the Spring of 2011 proposing the opening of the school in Fall of 2013. Please contact Ofa Moeai for more information. 801-787-4021

Charter School Proposed for 2012

Picking up again on the blog! Just an update, our efforts continued from 2008 and are gaining momentum as we anticipate final approval from the Utah State Charter School Board to open a public charter school for the Salt Lake City community of Glendale. Although our efforts began (as documented here in this blog) in 2008 with a vision for a school for the Provo/Orem area, our research showed a greater need in the inner city communities of the Salt Lake Valley. In the spring of 2010 we submitted a proposal for "Pacific Heritage Academy" which was accepted by the USOE Charter School Section. We are currently in a process of charter revisions and presentations before final approval. Many thanks to a small but courageous group of mothers who have been dedicated to the vision of a better education for an under-served population of Pacific Islanders in Salt Lake City, we are slated to open this school in the fall of 2012!!

Expeditionary Learning Schools

Please visit www.elschools.org to learn more about the Expeditionary Learning model. We are currently working with Expeditionary Learning Schools (a national, non-profit organization) which will provide us with a school designer and consultant to assist in implementing their model which includes project-based learning, integrated studies, assessment and other key concepts we desire for our students. The focus and investment will be on Teacher Development and Training. Over time, we will become one of a nation-wide network of "Expeditionary Learning Schools".

Currently, there are only three schools implementing the EL model in the state of Utah, two charter schools (one in SLC and one in Ogden) and one private school in Salt Lake City. At our encouragment, our friendly supporters, American Leadership Academy and Liberty Academy in Spanish Fork and Salem respectfully, are anticipating a contract with ELSchools to convert to this model of learning over the next few years. We will be the first in Utah County to introduce this model when we open our doors.

What do you think about: Multi-Age Classroom Grouping and Competency-Based Instruction

This is how it works: Students belong to one of four different learning teams, corresponding roughly to the age and developmental level of the student. Age and grade distinctions are not used, except when translating to those outside the school. Students move from one team to another after mastering various skills and demonstrating their ability to exercise responsibility and self-control. For content area instruction (like language arts and math) students are grouped according to their current skill level (competency based). For other classes, students are grouped heterogeneously on a multi-age basis. One of the most important benefits of the multi-aged classroom is that a nurturing and healthy atmosphere is established , where learning differences and strengths are accepted. This acceptance diversity replaces the "pack instinct" and minimizes competition. Please, give your comments.

Project Learning