In the Basic School, every student is encouraged to become a disciplined, creative, well-motivated learner. Connections are made across the generations. Rich resources for Teaming, from building blocks to books, libraries to zoos are available too. The Basic School serves the whole child, acknowledging that a student's physical, social and emotional well-being also relates to Teaming.
Basic Schools use a variety of grouping patterns. For example, 95 percent of the teachers in the Network have used cooperative projects and/or one-on-one tutoring sessions as one pattern for teaming and 97 percent of them state they have found these to be positive experiences, according to a recent survey.
Patterns to Fit Purpose. As a Basic School, Danebo Elementary School created new patterns. It moved from a traditional kindergarten through fifth grade elementary school to one that features multiage groupings. But in other Basic Schools, students are not just connected across the grades, they are connected across the generations. David Cox Road formed intergenerational partnerships with nearby nursing homes. Together, students and seniors sing, paint, read, and share stories. Teacher Joy Warner said, "Children learn best when they interact with others, seeing beauty in all kinds of people, and teaming how to give."
Resources to Enrich. In the Basic School, books are everywhere. But so is the latest technology. David Cox Road maintains a Media Center filled with books, but students also produce a daily closed circuit news broadcast, and, with other electronic tools, connect technology to what they are teaming in the classroom. In the computer lab, for example, children of all ages use computers for skill development and research, accessing a multimedia encyclopedia to explore topics they are exploring in their classes.
Some Basic Schools are farther along the information highway than others. But, according to a recent survey, seventy-five percent of the Network schools have computers in their classrooms in varying degrees. Thus, Etna Road has formed a technology committee to draft a five-year plan for technology and computer use in its school. It has begun to work with the state of Ohio and a group called School Net that assists with the wiring of all classrooms for technology.
Tools are important resources. But neighborhoods are also for teaming in the Basic School. In fact, 87 percent of teachers in the Basic School Network use museums and libraries as community resources. Jackson-Keller, for instance, recently established a partnership with the San Antonio Museum of Art to augment its integrated curriculum.
Services for Children. The Basic School is committed to serving the whole child. So Network Schools have been adding to their health and social services. Jackson-Keller formed a new partnership with the local YMCA and the local health department to improve health services for children and families. Danebo offers its parents on-site day care. It also created a new social worker program in the school, and strengthened its counseling services. It opened an annual on-site immunization clinic and has hired a volunteer coordinator.