By Aurelio Huertas, Jr., NCREL
Imagine a school where all members of the school community share a common vision for the school and are involved in decisions affecting curriculum, school structure, and instruction techniques. Now, stop imagining. Such a school really exists: Toivola-Meadowlands Charter School in Meadowlands, Minnesota.
Tim Robinson, who is one of the school's board members and has three children attending the school, says that community feedback on Charter Schools has been "very positive" since the decision was made to establish a Charter School. "Parents like the thought of having programs that are centered on learning in the community, teaching real world applications, and in which their children go out in the community to see what they learned."
The Charter School represents a unique partnership between the local school district and the Meadowlands community. The school seeks to revitalize education by involving the whole community. Parents are more involved in the educational process. Students have regained an interest in learning. Teachers are experimenting with innovative techniques.
Education at Toivola-Meadowlands Charter School extends far beyond pencils, paper, and textbooks. Students have input into what they believe they need to learn, which encourages them to share the responsibility for learning. They also explore real-life applications of what they have learned through innovative, hands-on activities in the community.
"All the hands-on stuff is what really connects it for the kids," explains Robinson. "What connects it for the parents is that they can be directly involved and they don't have 50 layers of bureaucracy to go through when they want to have input of how things are done."
Toivola-Meadowlands Charter School believes in challenging its students, especially in the use of technology. "A lot of the course offerings are geared towards high technology, communications, and interpersonal relationship skills," says Robinson. The school also focuses on everyday skills from a new perspective. "We are taking family learning a little differently - life skills we call it," explains Robinson. "It is not just cooking skills and how to do your laundry, but about going out and interacting with young kids and seeing how they learn. Parenting is not as easy as kids think."
Although Robinson believes that Charter Schools offer many benefits, he also admits that even the most successful programs include a measure of failure - not every problem has a practical solution. For example, transportation is a concern echoed by many Meadowlands residents. "I feel the transportation issue is inadequately addressed in the law," says Robinson. "When there is a transportation problem, there is no solution. This should be fixed."
Nevertheless, Robinson feels that Charter Schools are at the cutting edge of educational reform. He notes that "things may seem rocky at first," but he would like to see more states experiment with Charter Schools. "I would like to see every district have the option to do this."
Posted on March 3, 1995
URL: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/go/94-2int2.htm