Questions Most Often
Asked About
Red Mountain Ranch
and
Our ImpIemention of
Learning Communities
? What is a Learning Community ?
A Learning Community is one strand of 1st through 6th grade teachers, students and their families who create a small school within a school. Red Mountain Ranch has four full Learning Communities and one Community of 1st through 4th grade. A Learning Community provides the benefits of a small school with the provisions of a large school. Each child ideally enters a Learning Community in first grade and stays with that Community as he progresses through the grades.
? How are students placed
in their Learning Communities ? Kindergarten children are placed in Learning Communities using input from kindergarten teachers to create a balance of equity in gender, academic, and social development. There is special consideration given to placing siblings in the same community and honoring parent requests.
? Whv do we have Learning Communities ? The body of research supporting Vertical Teaming/Learning Communities is very large. Below is a small sampling of the benefits:
·
Establishes high rates of student satisfaction and a stronger, more positive sense of affiliation with the school.
·
Promotes the concept of "Community of Learners" helping each other to achieve.
·
Promotes the establishment of long-term relationships.
·
Enables teachers to continue their involvement with students throughout their years.
·
Develops childhood social skills while working with others in their community.
·
Promotes stronger parent-student-teacher partnerships by siblings having the same teachers.
·
Provides a curriculum that flows from teacher to teacher with less time spent on review each year.
·
Increases performance and reduces fear.
·
Creates a "family feeling" as children learn and grow together.
·
Provides teacher-student accountability by knowing each other well and being able to follow a student's progress through the years.
·
Personalizes education so students don't get lost in the numbers
·
Promotes confidence instead of fear as the children begin each new year.
·
Children are able to be with their siblings in various multi-age activities.
? Are the Learninq Communities equal ? One goal at Red Mountain Ranch is to create the very best elementary school possible within each Learning Community. This collaborative effort is possible because Learning Communities work together, rather than compete against each other. The entire staff at Red Mountain Ranch is comprised of well educated teachers who are dedicated toward achieving this goal. Teachers use the district-adopted programs and share their supplemental resources. Teachers meet in both grade level teams and vertical teams to plan, sharing their materials and ideas. Currently, Red Mountain Ranch has four 1st through 6th grade Learning Communities and one 1st through 4th grade Learning Community. This is dictated by population growth. When Learning Community 5's 4th grade students are ready for 5th grade, parents have the opportunity to observe the 5th and 6th grade teachers. They can request their first and second choices for their child's placement. Each 5th grade class will receive seven to eight students to create a balance in the class.
? How well do the students transition to junior high from having been In Learning Communities ? The students transition to junior high extremely well. Shepherd Jr. High's principal, Dr. Stephen Smith, praised Red Mtn. Ranch students stating they are excellently prepared for junior high excelling in all areas academically as well as socially. Our former students stand out as leaders. Although Shepherd has five feeder schools, he reports approximately 1/3 of their National Honor Society, band, orchestra, clubs and athletic programs are Red Mountain Ranch Elementary students. Shepherd won the 1997-98 National Academic Decathlon with 3 of their 5-member team graduating from Red Mountain Ranch. The saying, "You are a product of your environment" applies to all children. Our student's well-rounded success in Jr. High is a reflection of their parents, teachers, and schools who have touched their lives.
? How did parents rate our school ? Each spring parents help us evaluate our program. They are asked to complete a District Parent Satisfaction Survey and, this year, a Red Mountain Ranch Learning Communities Survey. The Learning Communities Survey showed an overwhelmingly positive response to the Learning Community philosophy and structure. Our School Improvement Advisory Council (SIAC) unanimously recommended continued implementation of Learning Communities. We have not yet received the results of our District Parent Satisfaction Survey. The results will be reported in the SHUTTLE, our school newspaper, as soon as they are known.
? May I change mv child's Learning Communitv if I wish to ? Parents may choose to have their child moved into another Learning Community. Every effort is made to honor those requests at the end of the year before any new students are placed in the classes for the following year. Specific community requests are honored on an as space is available basis. Class sizes are negotiated through district contracts. If the class is full, their second choice will be honored. Children who do come into an established class are welcomed and celebrated. They are paired with several students to help with the transition.
? Does the Learning Community structure provide time for students to interact with others at their grade level ? The children at Red Mountain Ranch are not isolated in their Learning Communities. Our students are with the same homeroom classmates as they progress through the grades giving them all the benefits Learning Communities offer, yet there is much instructional time spent with the others at their grade level. Time spent teaming at grade levels is developmentally appropriate, that is the older the child, the more time spent away from the homeroom. As with any school, this is not dictated by school policy and varies from teacher to teacher.
Children have a great deal of playtime with others of their grade level, too. Recess each day is by grade level. Lunch is by Learning Community but the times overlap, so more than one Learning Community is on the playground at any given time.
Imagine this: Every year, you were required to change jobs, use new materials, work with new coworkers, and have a new boss with different expectations who evaluates your performance. Would you feel you could do your best?
Apply this to the schools. Year after year, schools have done this very thing to students. By using Learning Communities, we are choosing not to do this to your children.
Red Mountain Ranch Elementary
6650 E. Raftriver RD
Mesa, AZ 85215
(480) 472-7900
Welcome to The Delta PartnershipDelta PartnershipDelta PartnershipWorld Famous RecipesWorld Famous RecipesAll Famous RecipesDelta Partnership DirectoryDelta Partnership List |