At South Shore Charter School, our educational philosophy is rooted in the belief that students must be active participants in the learning process to cultivate their authentic leadership skills. We believe that students learn best in environments where the teacher’s role is decreased, and students are challenged to take ownership of their learning. To accomplish our mission, we will utilize curriculum programs that support an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning, emphasizing the student’s role in the learning process. Our curriculum programs will cultivate innovative thinking by fostering curiosity, exploration, questioning and problem-solving.
In core content courses such as Reading, Writing, Math, Science and Social Studies we will combine inquiry-based approaches with direct instructional techniques. Our teachers will provide multiple opportunities for students to take leadership roles in the classroom during instruction. We will also engage students in enrichment courses such as Engineering, Music, Art, Physical Education and Character Education which will provide opportunities for them to engage in inquiry-based learning. During these periods, students will be taught how to apply foundational literacy, math, and science skills to their explorations. They will be introduced to various topics and given the opportunity to explore, question and find solutions independently or collaboratively in groups.
We will implement Project Lead the Way in our engineering course. This will create an engaging, hands-on classroom environment and empower students to develop in-demand knowledge and skills needed to cultivate ingenuity. The curriculum also provides students with investigative and problem-solving skills that are supported through scientific inquiry and engineering designed lessons.
We will implement Responsive Classroom as a part of our character education curriculum. The impact of the global pandemic on our community is beyond measure. Collectively, we are dealing with an immense degree of grief, economic and social upheaval. We will implement a character education program focused on building a sense of resiliency in scholars to repair the harm from this traumatic time in our world’s history. We will also implement a social-emotional learning program to help students develop self-management skills and encourages responsible decision making.
