San Diego Cooperative Charter School (SDCCS) (appointed, homes, neighborhood)

[defg]

Does anyone have any experience with this school ? I understand, for lack of a better word, that this school is more liberal. We are a conservative family, but not close minded. We are interested in this school for its whole child focus, but want to know if it will be the right fit. I know this is a subjective question, but if anyone has any experience/comments, I would appreciate hearing them. Thank You.

[NYSD1995]

I am close friends with one of the founders of this school. It is a very liberal arts focused school almost in the vein of the very liberal private east coast schools. The teaching methods are interactive, there is a lot of focus on interpersonal relationships, they use the environment and activities as a big component of their curriculum. If you are looking for the traditional, test-score driven, rigorous academic setting this is probably not the school you are looking for.

[lrmsd]

My son attended this school for kg; we then home-schooled him for two years,and he now attends Innovations Academy.
We did not have a great experience at SDCCS-mainly,there was alot of effort to meet the kids who were 'falling behind' (you find this ALOT in the 'innovative/liberal' schools,ESPECIALLY for urban schools/districts),but they were not able to allow my child to progress at his rate-he was bored. I think multi age programs cater better to this,w/o imposing an artificial ceiling on learners...I find children are dumbed down in this environment. One child I met while there, was in I think 5th grade, and he was very quick to tell me he had attended Montessori school prior, and was not happy-I said 'so,constructivist isn't cutting it for you?' lol...and he answered dead-pan, with 'No.'

I find that Constructivist schools [such as this and the IA] are not able to readily address different levels, while they may address different learning 'styles'. Their range is very middle of the road in terms of continuum, with a whole lot of emphasis on 'social emotional', which in turn often means an incredible amount of time spent with children 'processing' issues. Many of the issues would not have arisen, if there was full behavioral accountability (varies from classroom to classroom in my experience), and if children were given the opportunity to be challenged. There's an awful lot of emphasis on 'the group', as well. Obviously, learnign to get along is important, but I have found that this type of philosophy translates into 'group think' and mediocre.

Look up the wiki definition of Constructivism-it actually talks about the group coming to a 'common agreement' of an idea, whereas what my interpretation originally was, is that 'children create their own meaning via their environment'.

Many alternative schools are trying to do the polar opposite of 'worksheets and rows of desks', but I find they are throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

I was virtually an un-schooler going in, and in homeschooling, largely did operate as unschooling...but I've been disappointed with the lack of emphasis on actual academic/intellectual challenge in constructivist schools, including SDCCS.

That said, it is great to have an environment where interaction between children, and collaborative working, is encouraged (ie,instead of stark competition and grades), and where children can move about their classrooms and explore beyind pen and pencil and worksheets. You will find these plusses at SDCCS. But, the lack of rigor and structure can backfire at times, creating further behavior issues and taking time away from children who want to learn/engage in their environment.

Also, the cooperative aspect can be 'too many cooks in the kitchen'. Some teachers are more flexible abobut how parents volunteer, and it can be too much involvement, from my experience. Some teachers are very strict about parents signing up, and not interfering in the teacher's running of the classroom/discipline,etc. It varies.

Lastly, the school can be very cliquish.
Oh, and be sure to read great schools dot net (or dot com, I forget) for all the reviews on this schools. I have friends who stayed on, and other friends who have since joined, and they LOVE it. To each their own, of course. This is my experience, and I am a bit of a 'philosophy geek' when it comes to different approaches to education, their theory and how they seem to translate in practice. (I recommend The Underground History of Education, by John Taylor Gatto).

Plus, it just wasn't the right match for our child.
Committed group of folks at SDCCS, though, and a great principal.

I don't intend to get into any debates with folks who love this school; I am merely sharing my experience with the OP. I won't be back to toss posts back and forth on this one.(:
Good luck in your decision! Also, check out the Museum School? Interesting program, as well.

[lrmsd]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

I am close friends with one of the founders of this school. It is a very liberal arts focused school almost in the vein of the very liberal private east coast schools. The teaching methods are interactive, there is a lot of focus on interpersonal relationships, they use the environment and activities as a big component of their curriculum. If you are looking for the traditional, test-score driven, rigorous academic setting this is probably not the school you are looking for.

NO! This is absolutely NOT true. I grew up on the east coast [MA],and my husband [a SD native] regularly discuss this-how what we really want for our children is a classical or east coast type of academic school.
SDCSS is anything but this!
Honestly, it is pretty watered down academics, at best.
Even if one does nto think it is watered down, it is definitely not rigorous or liberal arts oriented.

It is 'multiple learning styles' oriented, with 'social-emotional curriculum' overlay. This means it is the same exact CA curriculum, as other schools. Only, for ex: If a student were going to learn the alphabet in kg, they would be able to use manipulatives and sensory tools, not just have to memorize and use a pencial and worksheet. The teacher might also incorporate words around the classroom [ie,a 'word hunt'] or go out to a museum or park and have children lookf or words that way. It does use the outer world for learning, but it is very basic. It also does use alot of project based work, which can translate into some fun/cool styles of learning-such as cooking and dressing up for a particular time period or country focus. But to say it is like a private,east coast liberal arts education is stretching it. I am not saying it is not a useful school, and it is a great alternative to the standard neighborhood schools in SD county, for sure, and without the cost of a SD private education. If anything, it is similar to 'The Children's School' in La Jolla.

Also, I may have misintepreted what you said...you said 'liberal arts focus' and also 'private liberal'; these are two different things. You will find some liberal private schools on the east coast-ie,Sudbury Valley school-a democratic free school, which is not teacher led at all...but SDCCS is a public school, and so is accountable for implementing state curriculum. This accounts for it being somewhat watered down. It is still state standards driven; they just strive to do it in a more friendly, relaxed, happier way. I did not find that they were a democratic free school (they really could not be, with state standards to implement; the only public school I know of that uses this model while being public, is blue mountain school in cottage grove, oregon).

East coast, private, liberal arts schools would be very rigorous, albeit not test score driven per se.
SDCCS does not do much to challenge the kids who are bored or ready to move on, in my experience.
Then again, your standard neighborhood public school certainly doesn't, either, unless you test into a TAG strand or something.

I asked my husband for his experience with SDCCS; his simple answer: "It's a nice alternative approach to the CA state curriculum".

Anyway, good luck to anyone making school choice decisions-I wish you the best! It's a jungle out there...LOL

[defg]

Thank you both for your replies. It is indeed challenging to find the right school!

lrmsd-I know you said you would not be back to post back and forth on this, but if you can, I am interested in hearing how your feel Innovations Academy differs from SDCCS. I am a little concerned about the academic standard, and wonder if IA allows the child to progress more as his/her pace and not be held back by the group.

I also checked out the Museum School as you mentioned, and that does seems interesting as well... Thank You.

[sunshine7793]

Might take a look at River Valley Charter. They achieve the highest test scores in San Diego County.