About the Schools | Mission Statement
Goals | Charter Schools
Six Unique Features of TECCS' Educational Program
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Our aim is to provide all children, regardless of socioeconomic background, with a world-class education. Every child will acquire the intellectual and ethical habits of mind that will foster success in education and society and the core values of ethical behavior.
In 1878, Felix Adler, philosopher, educator, and religious leader, envisioned and founded the Workingman's School, a new kind of school that would provide a well-rounded education for the children of working people. This school, now in its 129th year, adheres to the ideals conceived by Felix Adler: rigorous academic standards, ethics, service and passion for social justice. It remains an academically and culturally superb environment within which young people flourish. But it is no longer a workingman's school. Its families, except for those of its scholarship students, pay a high tuition.
Today, a group of people who greatly admire the educational philosophy of Felix Adler has come together with the shared vision of offering such an education free of charge in urban areas in need of high quality schools.
The Ethical Community Charter Schools will be located in New York City and Jersey City, New Jersey. They will be free, public charter elementary schools for the children of families that embrace the ideals of ethics, service, and social justice together with a demanding well-rounded education of academic studies and the arts. Our first school is scheduled to open in September 2009.
As each school opens, there will be three kindergarten classes and three first grade classes. Each succeeding year, as these classes move up a grade, two kindergarten classes will be added.
The Ethical Community Charter Schools will be dynamic, academically challenging, safe and caring communities of teachers, learners and parents that are dedicated to presenting children with world-class educational opportunities. Through proven methods anchored in best practice and emerging research, we expect every child, regardless of socioeconomic background, to acquire the skills and habits of mind that foster intellectual success and core values of ethical behavior. The climate for student learning and staff effectiveness will draw upon faculty and administrative expertise, children's talents, the rich resources of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School and strong family and community involvement.
The Ethical Community Charter School (TECCS) experience will develop young students who are highly capable academically and who become responsible members of their community. The students at TECCS will meet and exceed the performance thresholds established by the Department of Education of New York City and the New York State Board of Regents, or the New Jersey Department of Education. In addition, TECCS students will:
A charter school is a public school independently run and accountable to the public. It is free of many of the regulations controlling other public schools, but is held to strict standards of performance. Charter schools do not charge tuition and provide an alternative to parents and children who are not satisfied with the traditional public school model, but cannot afford or do not favor the independent schools that have high tuition charges.
Ethics Education: Our ethics education program is designed to produce a safe school, which has a culture of care and a climate of success. These are core elements for promoting positive social and ethical development, for increasing positive behaviors in children, for reducing antisocial behaviors among elementary school children, and for developing responsible citizens who contribute to their community.
Interdisciplinary Core Curriculum: Our interdisciplinary approach will organize the curriculum around common themes and skills across disciplines, particularly key elements of literacy, such as decoding, vocabulary comprehension, inference, and English Language development, to emphasize interdisciplinary skills and concepts.
Individualized, Differentiated Pedagogies: TECCS teachers will use varied pedagogical strategies, such as streamlining content that a student already knows and replacing it with more challenging material and providing different learning opportunities for students functioning at different academic levels and knowledge of English. Every child enrolled in TECCS will have an Individual Learning Goals Plan that is periodically modified to meet each student's learning goals. Teachers, administrators, and parents devise these plans in conjunction with grade-level learning objectives.
Open Communication with Families/Guardians: Each classroom teacher of any new student, regardless of grade, will establish initial contact with the student and his/her parents/guardians with a home visit early in the school year. Teachers will contact parents/guardians directly by telephone each month. At three points during the school year, teachers and parents meet for individual conferences to help reiterate learning goals and educational objectives for the student, and review how the child is progressing toward them. At all other times during the year, parents/guardians and teachers may schedule individual meetings as necessary.
A Community Enriched Program: We will connect our school to the community to improve the achievement of our students. Using the school as a hub, we will knit together inventive, enduring relationships among educators, families, community volunteers, and community partners - businesses, family support groups, youth development organizations, community organizations, faith based groups, and other organizations - committed to children.
Private School/Public Charter School Relationship: TECCS will have partner programs with one of New York City's leading independent schools, The Ethical Culture Fieldston School, and with a successful urban charter school, The Englewood on the Palisades Charter School in New Jersey.
We welcome inquiries addressed to:
Dr. Judith D. Wallach
101 Central Park West, 1A
New York, NY 10023-4250
e-mail: jdwallach@i-2000.com
