Monday, March 19, 2012

Annotated Index of Rockaway College Project Posts

The blog publishing of all I have in mind for my Democratic Education Rockaway College, serving the spectrum of gifted and talented, most especially the Twice-Exceptional, has resulted in quite a few posts.  To help better locate posts of greater interest I thought to add an annotated index of posts.  So, here they are.  The dates seen as the lead index attribute are the date a post was published.

2/16/12 “Rising Out of Bereavement Through My School Project”-tells the story of how it came to be that I am again working to make the dream of my school, Rockaway College, a reality, of how I discovered Democratic Education, the organizing principles of the school, and of how my Democratic Education school project came to be.

2/23/12 “Defining Democratic Education”-gives a concise description of the development and principles of Democratic Education.


Mr. Christopher Quirk, Director of Easton County Day School, graciously allowed me to work closely with him on a proposal for a sustainable education community during 2011.  Part of this collaboration centered on a K-12 school.  The following four posts represent the arguments set forth in that proposal for a vision of the school which favorably argues for Democratic Education schools generally, and my Democratic Education School particularly.
2/28/12 “Knocks Against the Way We School”-concisely critiques current schooling demonstrating the harm and the hurt visited upon children, especially those that fall outside the narrow band of mainstream compliable.
2/28/12 “Mindfulness and Empowerment:  The Twin Pillars of A Different Path in Education”-argues that formal learning structured differently than the current means by which children are schooled would not allow the harm and the hurt of contemporary schooling, that the cultivation of Mindfulness and Empowerment in each child are the twin pillars of the altered schooling structure, and that Democratic Education engenders Mindfulness and Empowerment and represents the altered schooling certainly capable of working for those not fitting into the current system.
2/28/12 “The Democratic Education System”-describes how Democratic Education works.
2/28/12 “Democratic Education Curriculum and Summation”- describes an integrated interdisciplinary curriculum emanating from the consequences of our digitally saturated society and from the Democratic Education structure’s need to provide students discrete contextual content, as well provides a summary of the arguments defining an altered schooling structure that would make it impossible for the problems of conventional schooling to take root and its conclusion that a Democratic Education school is such an altered schooling structure.


3/1/12 “The Gifted Talented Disabled ‘Tail Ends’ of the Curve” -identifies a student population ignored by almost all varieties of schooling and who is intended to be the classification of student this Democratic Education school will mainly serve.

3/4/12 “The Need to Attend to the Twice-Exception-The Need for Rockaway College” -argues for the need to attend to this population which also demonstrates the need for Rockaway College.

3/4/12 “Following the Neurology Meets 2e Educational Needs”-shows how working with the neurology of these youngsters instead of against it, as would Rockaway College, would meet psychological and educational needs of this population.


Rockaway College would be established through two major units, Rockaway College School and Rockaway College, each housing unique programs providing the spectrum of gifted and talented, most especially the Twice-Exceptional, an integrated sequential progression in social, emotional and cognitive growth.  Rockaway College School would offer an Early Childhood Program and a Primary Education Program.  Rockaway College would offer an outdoor adventure personal growth intake for the Secondary Education Program, a Secondary Education Program and an Early College.  These educational programs employ learning models synthesizing Democratic Education principles and neurologically based approaches to the learning predispositions of the schools’ intended student population.  Because they represent wholly new models of learning, it is incumbent on the school concept to explain them.  The next two posts accomplish this task.
3/5/12 “Concepts Informing Rockaway College Learning Models”- describes the views informing the learning models used in each of the five programs of Rockaway College. 
3/6/12 “The Learning Models of Rockaway College”-describes the models themselves.


During 2003-2005 I collaborated in a Democratic Education school development group.  It produced the successful concepts of the Brooklyn Free School and a failed submission for a new, small New York City public school.  Experience on these two projects provided me the opportunity to develop the outlines of Rockaway College which I put down in a Concept paper.  Over the intervening years, as I developed my own expertise in Democratic Education principles and practice and in gifted and talented psychology, especially, of the Twice-Exceptional, I refined the concepts and re-worked the paper accordingly to the point that the following posts are my current Concept and that which I know will work for the children, adolescents and young adults of the spectrum of gifted and talented being ill-served or completely ignored by almost all contemporary schooling.
3/7/12 “The Rockaway College Concept Paper:  Introduction”-provides the purpose of the paper and of the school project, a Mission Statement and a general design outline of the school's components.
3/8/12 “The Rockaway College Concept Paper:  Student Population”-assigns the Twice-Exceptional (2e) to the project as the main classification of children, adolescents and young adults intended to enroll and to grow through the programs of the school; describes 2e in conventional characteristic terms, argues against this way of viewing and suggests an alternative perspective.
3/9/12 “The Rockaway College Concept Paper:  Stand Alone Service for this Student Population”-argues against appropriate school construction for service to the Twice-Exceptional being formed by a general education population, or by inclusion or pull-out mainstream classes or variants of the mainstream such as multi-age classrooms, rather it argues for an affinity environment composed solely from the spectrum of gifted and talented within an environment allowing development in a child's own way and in a child's own time rather than in an environment of standardized child psychology and behavior.
3/10/12 “The Rockaway College Concept Paper:  Design of Rockaway College School”-outlines the grouping, the purpose, the learning environment, the way learning is to happen and the Democratic Education governance structures of both the Early Childhood and the Primary Education Programs of Rockaway College School.
3/11/12 “The Rockaway College Concept Paper:  Design of Rockaway College-The Venture School”-outlines the grouping, the purpose, the learning environment, the way learning is to happen and the Democratic Education governance structures of the School’s outdoor adventure secondary education intake program.
3/12/12 “The Rockaway College Concept Paper:  Design of Rockaway College-Lower and Upper Schools”-outlines the grouping, the purpose, the learning environment, the way learning is to happen and the Democratic Education governance structures of both the Secondary Education Program and the Early College of the Rockaway College component.
3/13/12 “The Rockaway College Concept Paper:  Addendum-Administrative Governance”-While the school communities govern almost all the policies of Rockaway College in its parts and in its whole, administrative governance is completely the prerogative of the professional staff.  This section details the administrative structures and professional staff roles and responsibilities.
3/15/12 “The Rockaway College Concept Paper:  Addendum-Design Implementation”-describes the Team approach taken to establish the components of The School and The College, and suggests an optimistic time and task line for roll-out.
3/16/12 “The Rockaway College Concept Paper:  Addendum-Design Staffing”-details positions necessary to staff components of The School and The College, and describes responsibilities and qualifications for these positions.
3/17/12 “The Rockaway College Concept Paper:  Addendum-Design Interior Spaces”-details space requirements for designs of both The School and The College.

3/17/12 “Quick Overview of Rockaway College Design”-provides a concise description of the entire Rockaway College Project, including Mission Statement, intended Student Population, Need Statement and School Designs of Rockaway College School and Rockaway College.

3/19/12 “An Annotated Index of Rockaway College Project Posts”

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Quick Overview of Rockaway College Design


Rockaway College establishes two major units:  Rockaway College School and Rockaway College. Rockaway College School houses the Early Childhood Program in the unified Pre-School/Kindergarten and the Primary Education Program in the Elementary School.  In Rockaway College there are three schools each with a unique learning program:  The Venture School holds a personal growth intake for the secondary education program, The Lower School holds the secondary education program and The Upper School is the early college. 

MISSION STATEMENT:  The Mission of Rockaway College School and Rockaway College is to cultivate in all its students a solid psychological foundation for future growth and a cognitive dexterity for adaptability to life’s vicissitudes by providing a highly supportive Learner-Responsibility-Centered education.

STUDENT POPULATION:  While the learning programs of the School and the College are meant to include the full spectrum of Gifted and Talented, they are meant mostly to directly serve the bright neurologically diverse, also know as the Twice-Exceptional (2E) or Gifted and Talented Learning Disabled (GTLD). 

NEED:  By one calculation there are a minimum of 10,500 Twice-Exceptional youngsters in New York City; by another, there might be up to 50,000.  (The prospect is high that the number is way above the latter.  Approximations are required because New York State does not oblige local school districts to collect prevalence data on this category of student.)  Currently there is no direct service to this population in the New York City Public Schools and only one school within the City, The Lang School, a private, independent institution, which directly serves this population. Thus, a huge gap exists in available direct service which Rockaway College would partially address.

SCHOOL DESIGN:
          --Rockaway College School houses the Early Childhood Program in the unified Pre-School/Kindergarten and the Primary Education Program in the Elementary School. 
            ---Early Childhood Program:
               ----Grouping:  ungraded, mixed ages 3-5.
               ----Purpose:  executive functioning self-regulation and social-emotional management.
               ----Learning Model:  Talent Development infused Democratic Montessori with Toys.
               ----Learning Structures:  Self-organized individual and group play with elements of a prepared environment.
               ----Psycho-Cognitive, behavioral and social supports are through student-staff and, if necessary, mental health professional, counseling.
               ----Curriculum Core:  Montessori Ages 3-6. 
               ----Advancement:  Progress through the Early Childhood Program would be at the individual’s own pace, and when ready he and she would move into the Primary Education Program.  Benchmarks in progress and requirements to be met to pass into Primary Education would be a school governance issue to be resolved by the initial school staff.   
               ---Democratic Education Governance:  Program policy governance is through the instructional staff.  School policy governance is through the General School Community.  Administrative governance is shared through the Head's Council (the College Director and the Heads of School of both major units) and the professional School staff.      

           ---Primary Education Program:
               ----Grouping:  ungraded, mixed ages 6-11.
               ----Purpose:  continued executive functioning self-regulation and social-emotional management, plus the development of competency in neuro-compatible Literacy and Expression, along with cultivation of topics of interest where the course of content learning would be self-directed, individualized and emergent, unique to each student as they choose to engage learning through their distinctive neurological construction, abilities, interests and communication styles.
               ----Learning Models:  Talent Development infused Democratic Montessori.
               ----Learning Structures:  In-class learning during the school day would be engaged through the student choice of one or more of three ways:  through self-directed independent or self-organized small group engagement with the materials and activities of the prepared environment, through small whole group teacher initiated and student voluntarily accepted cooperative topic study and/or through self-initiated one-to-one instruction.  Additionally, students would have the opportunity if they so choose to work with teachers on activities of teacher interest as helpers not as students.  Outside class learning during the school day would be engaged through the student choice of varied field trips. 
               ---Psycho-Cognitive and behavioral supports are through individual student-staff mentoring/counseling and, if necessary, mental health professional counseling; social support is through peer ombudsmen and peer mediation.   
               ----Curriculum Core:  Montessori Ages 6-12. 
               ----Advancement:  Progress through the Primary Education Program would be at the individual’s own pace, and when ready he and she would move into the Venture School of Rockaway College.  Benchmarks in progress and requirements to be met to pass into the secondary education intake program would be a school governance issue to be resolved by the initial school community.   
               ---Democratic Education Governance:  Program and School policy governance is through the General School Community.  Administrative governance is shared through the Head's Council (the College Director and the Heads of School of both major units) and the professional School staff.    
         
          --Rockaway College houses three schools, The Venture School, The Lower School and The Upper School.
            ---The Venture School:
               ----Grouping:  ungraded, mixed ages from 11.
               ----Purpose:  an intake personal growth program for all youngsters entering secondary academic study or have yet to finish secondary academic study.  The School is meant to uncover and develop social-emotional and cognitive strength and compensatory weakness awareness, to integrate all into the Lower School’s cooperative self-directed learning culture and to cultivate outdoor topics of interest where the course of content learning would be self-directed, individualized and emergent, unique to each student as they choose to engage learning through their distinctive neurological construction, abilities, interests and communication styles.
               ----Learning Models:  Talent Development infused Democratic Education.
               ----Learning Structures:  In-class learning during the school day would be engaged through the student choice of one or more of three ways:  through self-directed independent or self-organized small group engagement with the materials and activities of the prepared environment, through small whole group teacher initiated and student voluntarily accepted cooperative topic study and/or through self-initiated one-to-one instruction.  Additionally, students would have the opportunity if they so choose to work with teachers on activities of teacher interest as helpers not as students.  Outside class learning during the school day would be engaged through the student choice of frequent and varied camping, backpacking, hiking and other types of adventure trips. 
               ----Psycho-Cognitive and behavioral supports are through individual student-staff mentoring/counseling and, if necessary, mental health professional counseling; social support is through peer ombudsmen and peer mediation.   
               ----Curriculum:  Outdoor Education centered on outdoor skills, and on outdoor subjects such as Botany, Geology, Forestry, Zoology and Environmental Science.
               ----Advancement:  Progress through the Venture Program would be at the individual’s own pace, and when ready he and she would move into The Lower School.  Benchmarks in progress and requirements to be met to pass to The Lower School would be a school governance issue to be resolved by the initial school community.
               ---Democratic Education Governance:  Immediate outdoor program policy governance is through the General Venture School Community.  Overall program and general Venture School policy governance is through the Rockaway College General Schools Community and the institution-wide General College Community.  Administrative governance of the Venture School is shared through the Head's Council (the College Director and the Heads of School of both major units) and the professional School staff.    

            ---The Lower School, The secondary education of Rockaway College:
               ----Grouping:  ungraded, mixed ages, from whatever age a youngster transfer’s into the Lower School from The Venture School.
               ----Purpose:  to provide high quality academic skill development according to the individual’s Neuro-Learning Style, along with the cultivation of topics of interest where the course of content learning would be self-directed, individualized and emergent, unique to each student as they choose to engage learning through their distinctive neurological construction, abilities, interests and communication styles.
               ----Learning Model:  Talent Development infused Democratic Education.
               ----Learning Structure:  Integrated Interdisciplinary Thematic, Inquiry Project Based and Performance Assessed.  Every student would engage the academic world through an inquiry project determined by his own neurological construction, abilities, interests and communication style.  Inquiry projects would be developed, implemented and evaluated through participation in cooperative learning groups where group members act together to achieve individual project objectives rather than through self-reliant, independent studies.  Additionally, students would have the opportunity if they so choose to work with teachers on inquiry projects of teacher interest as helpers not as students. There are proposed to be six Cooperative Learning Groups inhabiting their own lab spaces and facilitated each by a Learning Specialist:  Science, History, Letters, Arts, Performance and Foreign Language Arts. 
               ----Psycho-Cognitive and behavioral supports are through individual student-staff mentoring/counseling and, if necessary, mental health professional counseling; social support is through peer ombudsmen and peer mediation.   
               ----Curriculum:  “Free Academic”.  It is Academic in that the universe of knowledge open to engagement would be that from written tradition, Western and Eastern. It is Free in that the intellectual curiosity and the natural differences of each youngster would drive engagement with the academic world rather than that of uniform mandated core and elective curricula.
               ----Advancement:  Progress through The Lower School would be at the individual’s own pace, and when ready he and she would matriculate into The Upper School.  Benchmarks in progress and requirements to be met to pass to The Upper School would be a school governance issue to be resolved by the initial school community.
               ---Democratic Education Governance:  Immediate cooperative learning group questions are settled in each Cooperative Learning Group.  Specific Lower School policy governance is through the General Lower School Community; general Lower School policy is through the Rockaway College General Schools Community and the institution-wide General College Community.  Administrative governance of the Lower School is shared through the Head's Council (the College Director and the Heads of School of both major units) and the professional School staff.   
                
            ---The Upper School, the early college of Rockaway College:
               ----Grouping:  mixed ages from when students are eligible to matriculate in the program.
               ----Purpose:  to engage deep, cooperative, scholarly study into questions of curiosity, interest and passion; to satisfy common core university requirements enabling Rockaway College scholars upon graduation to receive a high school diploma, an Associate of Arts degree and, if desired, entrance into a college or a university to complete a Bachelor’s degree. 
               ----Learning Model:  Talent Development infused Democratic Education within a conventional college semester course structure.
               ----Learning Structure:  full participation in Socratic Seminars initiated, developed and facilitated by the groups of young scholars who would be in attendance in them and/or by the professors of the Upper School. 
               ----Psycho-Cognitive, behavioral and social supports are through student-staff mentoring and, if necessary, mental health professional counseling.
               ----Curriculum:  an integrated interdisciplinary contemporary Great Books curriculum called the Great Question Curriculum which utilizes the Great Books as the sources from which Great Questions would be derived and the resources from which students would turn to answer these questions.  Great Question course development is a community governance responsibility begun by initial community and expanded, and modified by community decision as the Upper School program expands.
               ----Advancement:  Progress through The Upper School would be at the individual’s own pace.  Benchmarks in progress and graduation requirements to be met to graduate from Rockaway College would be a school governance issue to be resolved by the initial school community and modified, if desired, by subsequent community decisions.
               ---Democratic Education Governance:  Upper School policy governance is through the General Upper School Community and the institution-wide General College Community.  Administrative governance of the Upper School is shared through the Head's Council (the College Director and the Heads of School of both major units) and the professional School staff. 

The Rockaway College Concept Paper: Addendum-Design Interior Spaces

Interior Spaces is the last Concept paper section. 

Interior Spaces:
Rockaway College as outlined is constituted in two major units:  Rockaway College School and Rockaway College.  Rockaway College School offers two programs:  an early childhood program in the Pre-School/Kindergarten, and a primary education program in the Elementary School.  Rockaway College offers three programs:  an outdoor adventure secondary education intake for secondary education in The Venture School, a secondary education program in The Lower School and an early college in The Upper School.  Rockaway College School and Rockaway College require their own separate school spaces marking a distinction between each unit.  Nevertheless, this paper intends for both units to co-locate on the same property, whether that is within a single commercial building or on a single or multi-building campus.

The Pre-School/Kindergarten and The Primary School would be divided into three self-contained program spaces.  However, both programs will share office space and a common space appropriate for General School Community meetings and assemblies. 

The outdoor adventure intake program of The Venture School will run two “Crews” each occupying their own program “Crew Bay”.  The Lower School secondary education program establishes six Cooperative Learning Labs with Science History, Letters, Foreign Language Arts and Performance occupying single spaces and Art occupying five separate spaces for General Purpose, Sculpting, Visual Arts, Music and Multimedia.   The Upper School will share the Arts and Performance spaces with The Lower School and will occupy classrooms organized into seminar spaces.  The three Schools of Rockaway College will share office, storage and lavatory space.

The institution in its whole will share a Library and a Commons. The Commons will be used for Rockaway College General School Community and General College Community meetings until such time as a performing arts center can be constructed where these Community meetings would then take place. 

Listed below are “ball park” estimates of interior space requirements. Institutionally shared performance arts center and athletics facilities are not included in this estimate as they are spaces separate from the core mission of the school and thus represent budget categories of special attention on which to be focused after the core mission is being well served.


Rockaway College School
    Pre-School/Kindergarten and Elementary class space-three self-contained spaces @
    2,000 sq. ft per space = 6,000 sq. ft.
    Office/Conference Rooms:  6 @ 250 sq. ft.  = 1,5000 sq. ft.
    Faculty Room-1 @ 750 sq. ft. = 750 sq. ft.
    Common Space-1 @ 2,000 sq. ft. = 2,000 sq. ft. 
    Storage and General Use Lavatories = 1,000 sq. ft.
    Total:  at least approximately 11,250 sq. ft.

Rockaway College:
    Venture School:
    Venture Crew Bays-2 @ 2,000 sq. ft. =  4,000 sq. ft.

    The Lower School:
    Science Cooperative Learning Group Lab:  2,000 sq. ft.
    History Cooperative Learning Group Lab:  1,000 sq. ft.
    Letters Cooperative Learning Group Lab:  1,000 sq. ft.
    Arts Cooperative Learning Group Labs:
       General Purpose:  1,000 sq. ft.
       Sculpting:  1,000 sq. ft.
       Visual Arts:  1,000 sq. ft.
        Multimedia: 1,000 sq. ft.
        Music: 2,000 sq. ft.
    Performance Cooperative Group Lab:  2,000 sq. ft.
    Foreign Language Cooperative Group Lab:  1,000 sq. ft.

    Upper School:
    Seminar Rooms-16 @ 400 sq. ft. =  6,400 sq. ft.
    Faculty Space-1 @ 1,000 sq. ft. = 1,000 sq. ft.

     Shared:
     Commons:  3,000 sq. ft.
     Office Rooms-10 @ 250 sq. ft. = 2, 500 sq. ft.
     Storage/Lavatories:  3,000 sq. ft.                        
                                                                                  
     Total: at least approximately 33, 000 sq. ft.

Combined total of at least approximately 44,200 sq. ft.

Friday, March 16, 2012

The Rockaway College Concept Paper: Addendum-Design Staffing

There are two Concept paper sections remaining, Staffing and Interior Spaces.  Staffing is the subject of this blog post and Interior Spaces will be the subject of the next. I developed a budget during 2006, revised it in 2008.  While its expense categories for the most part remain the same today as then, the assumptions of both revenues and costs are way out of date making the document less valuable for informed consideration and, as such, a burden on a reader already weighed down by a lot of dry project detail. 

Staffing:
The staffing listed below represents the least for successful student psycho-social and educational engagement and for sufficient school administration. Additional staff, instructional and institution-wide, while remaining essential must rely on funding; whenever funding allows staffing additional to the listed would be employed.  It may be necessary to rely on interested student volunteers in administrative assistant capacities to help basic staff to accomplish staff responsibilities.  But that would be up to each program and general school community to decide. While it is the intention of this concept to recruit parents with specialized knowledge advantageous to school development and functioning as “consultants” bringing expertise to Team tasks, they are not intended to be included as staff responsible for student engagement.  However, parents may be asked (maybe even required) to be chaperones for field trips and at student social events and to have a large role in funding development.

Basic Staff Positions:
Rockaway College Project Director
Head of Rockaway College School
Head of Rockaway College
Facilities Manager
Business Manager
Information Technology/Library Manager
Commons Manager
Rockaway College Instructional Staff:  Total eight
     Early Childhood- two teachers, one paraprofessional
     Primary Education-four teachers, one paraprofessional
Rockaway College Instructional Staff: Total eighteen
     Venture School-six advisors
     Lower School-six learning specialists
     Upper School-six professors

The Rockaway College Project Director facilitates school component establishment with each Development, Fundraising and Start-up Team and the Board of Trustees.  This team approach is responsible for facilities development and construction as well as budgeting and fundraising to support expansion to full operation.  The Project Director is the lead facilitator of program and professional development and leader in external relations. The Project Director’s position progressively assumes school duties additional to development responsibilities as components become operational until the College is fully built-out.  Instructional duties are one of the added responsibilities.  And it is intended that the current Project Director’s instructional duties would be exercised in the Primary Education Program. Upon the institution being fully established the position title of College Director replaces the title of Project Director. 

The Heads of School are the lead administrators of the two major units of the institution.  They facilitate and coordinate management with the professional staffs of each unit.  Administrative facilitation and coordination of the Pre-School/Kindergarten and Elementary School would rest with the Head of Rockaway College School, the position becoming available on inception of Pre-School/Kindergarten Development, Fundraising and Start-up Team. Administrative facilitation and coordination of The Venture School, The Lower School and The Upper School would rest with the Head of Rockaway College the position becoming available on inception of the Venture School Development, Fundraising and Start-Up Team.  Administrative facilitation and coordination of the entire institution would rest in the Head’s Council, it being initially comprised of the Project Director and Head of Rockaway College School on initiation of the Pre-School/Kindergarten Team and to expand to its intended three lead administrators on the inception of The Venture School Team.

The Pre-School/Kindergarten Team would mostly be comprised of the instructional staff of two teachers, one paraprofessional, and the Head of School.  Financial constraints require the Heads to be instructional staff, thus, the Head of the Rockaway College School is required to be included as instructional staff.  He/She would start as instructional staff in the early childhood program and can choose to either stay there or move to the primary education program once the Elementary School is developed and operational.  The Team would also include the Project Director.

Facilities Manager, Business Manager and Information Technology/Library Manager would join the Team if possible.  It will be difficult enough to recruit a Head of School and other instructional staff only on the promise of compensation borne from the success of their Team efforts, but recruitment of these three necessary institution-wide responsible members only on that promise is far less likely; yet, this paper intends to undertake such recruitment in the hopes three good people believing in the Concept will be forthcoming. 

The initial Elementary School Team would be comprised of the instructional staff of at least two teachers and one paraprofessional, the Project Director and the Head of School, an additional teacher and paraprofessional to lower the student-teacher ratio would be preferable but is contingent on available and anticipated funding.  By then there should have been generated sufficient funding to employ the Facilities Manager, Business Manager and Information Technology Manager, all of whom would assume Elementary School Team duties as well.

The enhanced Elementary School Team developing the second primary education class would keep the complement of the initial Team and add at least two teachers and one paraprofessional, an additional teacher and paraprofessional to lower the student-teacher ratio would be preferable but is contingent on available and anticipated funding. 

As argued prior, to keep the promise to the school’s parents, and to their children, to graduate the spectrum of gifted and talented with a high school diploma and an Associate of Arts degree the early childhood to early college programs must be fully established.  But, expansion from Rockaway College School to the full expression of Rockaway College depends on successful funding development.

But, assuming such success, The Venture School Development, Fundraising and Start-Up Team would be created and be comprised of the six outdoor program “advisors”, the Head of Rockaway College, the Project Director along with the institution-wide Facilities Manager, Business Manager, IT/Librarian and the added Commons Manager. 

It should be noted here that it is the intention of this paper to, as part of expansion funding, provide employment for a primary education instructional staff member replacing the Project Director allowing him to better concentrate on Rockaway College component establishment responsibilities; nonetheless, there will remain a necessity for this administrator to assume instructional duties and these responsibilities are to be exercised in the Upper School early college program.

With The Venture School operational The Lower School Team would be established and be comprised of the six Learning Specialists, the Head of Rockaway College and the Project Director, along with the institution-wide Facilities Manager, Business Manager, IT/Librarian and Commons Manager.

With The Lower School operational The Upper School Team would be established and be comprised of five Professors, the Head of Rockaway College and the Project Director, along with the institution-wide Facilities Manager, Business Manager, IT/Librarian and Commons Manager. 

All staff must feel passionately in favor of the key philosophic concepts foundational to the school.  They must personally and professionally feel at ease working with a range of neuro-diverse children with different social-emotional and cognitive needs, as well feel comfortable facilitating cooperative self-directed learning and integrative interdisciplinary curricula, and working within a democratic/consensus norm based community.  They must be dedicated to articulate conversation at all levels, to cultivating and modeling personal and professional habits of cooperation, to sharing with colleagues and students the continuation of personal intellectual growth and to nonviolent communication and conflict resolution.  And above all they must be fully capable of developing loving, caring and warm appropriate relationships with children and other adults.

Universal responsibilities of instructional staff in each unit: administrative duties attending to school operation including but not exclusive to the formulation of budget statements, program budgetary accounting and the construction and maintenance of student records; on-going education program development to achieve the school’s mission; on-going professional development to effectively facilitate cooperative self-directed learning with a bright neuro-diverse population, community initiated cooperative whole group instruction appropriate to a varying self-regulated population and democratic/consensus community governance; student mentoring; field trip leadership and supervision; and general supervision of student interactions for the health and safety of the community in a manner fully consistent with community norms.

Pre-School/Kindergarten and Elementary instructional staff qualifications will require a completed Bachelor’s Degree with a concentration in early childhood and/or in elementary age learning and/or in special education and/or with a Montessori Teaching Certification; preference will be given to those with course work in gifted/talented/twice-exceptional education.  Pre-School/Kindergarten and Elementary School instructional staff qualifications may include New York, or other, State Certification in Special Education and/or in Common Branches as well as experience in regular, special education or Montessori school settings, but such candidates must understand and accept the authentically alternative nature of Rockaway College School and pay far greater attention to the acquisition and use of new skill sets required for inclusion in this community than on the skill sets required for Certification and practiced in regular, special education or Montessori school settings. 

Elementary School and Lower School instructional staff qualifications may also include professional knowledge of and practice in Free or Democratic Schools, or other types of alternative schools, but such candidates must understand and accept the unique neurology and emotional predispositions of the school’s student population and pay greater attention to the acquisition and use of new skill sets concerning the social-emotional and cognitive needs of the student population than on the skill sets usually sufficient for practice within Free or Democratic schools or in other types of alternative settings.

Venture School staff qualifications will include demonstration of outdoor leadership training as well as personal and leadership outdoor experience.  Training can be through courses in the National Outdoor Leadership School or the Boy Scouts of America or university outdoor education programs. Leadership experience must be with children and/or young adults.  And personal experience must be current and on-going.  In addition, the successful Venture School candidate must have current First Aid/CPR certification-Wilderness First Aid would be a preferable addition to First Aid/CPR certification.  As other staff, the Venture staff must understand the authentic alternative nature of the school, of the Venture program in particular, and the neurology and the social-emotional predispositions of its student population and accept the acquisition and the use of new skill sets effectively facilitating cooperative self-directed and negotiated learning with a bright neurologically atypical population and developing a community initiated, policy democratic/consensus governed program.

Upper School instructional staff qualifications will require completed Masters Degree, Ph.D. or A.B.D. preferred, in appropriate discipline areas; but such candidates must understand and accept the authentic alternative nature of the school and the neurology and the social-emotional predispositions of its student population and above all accept and work well within the integration of disciplines. 

The Information Technology/Librarian would best demonstrate knowledge and experience in school IT infrastructure development, instillation and maintenance and in development, instillation and maintenance of electronic library systems, as well as knowledge of multi-media hard and software; and be willing and capable of assisting instructional staff professional development on the integration of e-library and multi-media services with self-directed and negotiated learning.

The Facilities Manager would best demonstrate knowledge and experience in all facets of school or commercial building and grounds construction, reconstruction, renovation and maintenance.  He/She should be familiar with the benefits and drawbacks of and procedures for service outsourcing.

The Business Manager would best demonstrate knowledge and experience of school or small-medium size commercial accounting management systems.  He/She must be familiar with contract law sufficient to assure protection against liabilities.  Preferred would be an individual who has knowledge and experience working with insurance, especially, in health and in liability, who has knowledge and experience working in employee benefit areas such as retirement and, most of all, who has knowledge and experience working in non-profit fundraising management.

The Commons Manager would best demonstrate knowledge and experience in school or corporate commissary operations including facilities development and maintenance, administration, food service, sanitation and health regulation compliance.

The Heads of Schools facilitate the community budget development process for their schools, act as the business agents for their schools being responsible along with the Business Manager for purchasing and for facilities and equipment maintenance among many other leadership duties.  They are tasked to be the designated school administrator satisfying state requirements for daily supervision for their individual schools.

Qualifications for the Heads of Rockaway College School and of Rockaway College will require at least a Masters Degree, although a Ph.D. would be preferred, in areas pertinent to the level of social-emotional and cognitive development in neurologically atypical children, such as Special Education with an emphasis on child and adolescent G/T/ 2e identification, psychology and learning.  Preferred would be individuals who have professional knowledge in Montessori theory and practice, and/or comparative and unconventional learning theory and practice.  While formal advanced education in school Administration overwhelmingly favors theory and practice in hierarchical organizations, which Rockaway College is definitely not, the individual with such grounding demonstrating a depth of professional knowledge in and a temperament for facilitation, supervision and financial acumen within a decentralized, democratic governance organization will find favor as well as those candidates who have administration experience within hierarchical education structures and who demonstrate a depth of professional knowledge in and a temperament for facilitation, supervision and financial acumen within a decentralized, democratic governance. 

Thursday, March 15, 2012

The Rockaway College Concept Paper: Addendum-Design Implementation

Establishment at every stage of design implementation rests on successive, and successful, Development, Fundraising and Start-Up Teams.  Each element of the institution would have its own Team.  Thus, the unified Pre-School/Kindergarten and the Elementary School would have its Teams, as well The Venture, The Lower and the Upper Schools.  While each definitely has the hard jobs of developing the individual aspects of its facilities and programs and of fundraising for compensation and to finance the concepts into actual brick and mortar, job one of all Teams is the conscious formation and norming of the cooperative learning culture children, adolescents and young adults must find already established so they can as easily as possible integrate into it and cultivate the expectant cooperative behaviors the culture intends to induce.  Thus, each Team collaboratively would recruit members of a Board of Trustees willing to combine effort to financially secure the viability of the school, willing to work with the Team on the Team’s collective fundraising responsibilities and willing to work with the Team to institute and support the business operation of the school.  Each Team would as well cooperatively acquire the professional knowledge of the Democratic self-governance, the Talent Development infused Democratic Montessori and the Talent Development infused Democratic Education learning systems and of working with the spectrum of gifted and talented, especially the Twice-Exceptional, within these unique systems.  Further, each Team would partner to build the management, the learning systems and the facilities each is task to establish, to market the school recruiting families and children to the school, and to accept role obligations as the programs become operational. 

While the life of the entire project is vested in the successful funding development of all Teams, it is to the Rockaway College School Teams-the first setting up the school’s Board of Trustees and the School itself through establishing the Pre-School/Kindergarten and the second expanding the Board and establishing the Elementary School-go the greatest burden.   Obviously, concurrent compensation for great effort as Team members and as administrative and instructional staff is directly tied to strong fundraising, as well the implementation of the Rockaway College School programs themselves.  But, without the flourishing financials supporting The School operation, there can be little or no prospect of expansion funding.  So, with the financial success of both Teams and its Board of Trustees putting The School on firm fiscal footing and with an effective Board working jointly with the entire Rockaway School community on expansion funding Rockaway College development can be assured. 

And expansion to Rockaway College is essential to fulfill the promise to the spectrum of gifted and talented.  Indeed, the other than conventional nature of The School’s programs prepare The School’s students for continued progress in social-emotional and cognitive growth as from where they came, rather than preparing them to accept inclusion within conventional settings.  Thus, the sequential integration of program inspired growth pledged to parents who trust their children to growth through this type of schooling and provided to their children by this type of schooling must be continued as promised.

With Rockaway College School established and with expansion funding available, the Rockaway College Venture School Development, Fundraising and Start-Up Team could be organized.  Then with the financials anticipating further expansion The Lower School Development, Fundraising and Start-Up Team would be put together.  These Teams collaboratively duplicate at the outdoor intake and secondary education program levels the collective responsibilities of the Rockaway College School Teams.  While these Teams are naturally relieved from recruiting the initial Board of Trustees, they would have the obligations of working with the existing Board to expand its members willing to financially secure the continued viability of the school and of working with the Team on the Team’s fundraising and management responsibilities.

The full secondary-early college program fulfilling the promise of Rockaway College to graduate the spectrum of gifted and talented, especially the Twice-Exceptional, with a high school diploma and an Associate of Arts degree rests squarely on the effective collaborative funding development of the Board of Trustees and the Rockaway College component Teams.  When the expansion process commits to undertake Venture and Lower School development, it through necessity must commit to support expansion to the Upper School as well.

So, when The Lower School has been established, the Rockaway College Upper School Development, Fundraising and Start-Up Team must be organized with the same collective responsibilities for the early college program and working with the Board on its fundraising and management responsibilities as the other Teams had for their programs.

Teamwork establishes the individual elements of the institution. Each Team takes at least a developmental year, a “Stub Year”, as much to set the culture of the schools and to grow the professional skill sets as for facilities development and school supply purchases as those newly enrolled youngsters truly need to equally find an established cooperative norm based community into which to integrate for them to begin the social-emotional wellness and the cognitive adaptability processes foundational to the mission of Rockaway College as the physical environment, materials and activities ready for student cooperative self-directed and negotiated learning. 

The following is a suggested timeline and general task outline for the Team implementation of the Rockaway College concept school design. It must be recognized that this timeline represents the most optimistic funding for school start-up and expansion allowing the next program level to be in place to receive children ready to move on to that next level when children are ready to move on.  Nevertheless, the least implementation undertaken must finish the full establishment of the Rockaway College School providing the full spectrum of gifted and talented a comprehensive pre-school through primary school education without interruption.

During this first stub year, the Pre-School/Kindergarten Development, Fundraising, Start-up Team concentrates on initial Rockaway College School facility development, on developing the early childhood program and on anticipating the primary education program.  This Team has the responsibilities of: 1) facility and grounds acquisition (ideally one capable of housing all expansion), initial construction/reconstruction and renovation of grounds’ area and facility spaces for The School in general and for the early childhood program specifically, and information technology infrastructure development for The School with expansion in mind; 2) Pre-School/Kindergarten development with collaborative staff administrative, professional knowledge and early childhood program systems preparation, material construction of early childhood program space and Rockaway College Unified Pre-School/Kindergarten promotion, family outreach, parent education and student recruitment and registration.

With the start of School Year One, the unified Pre-School/Kindergarten is operational.  During School Year One, the Pre-School/Kindergarten Development, Fundraising and Start-Up Team now having accepted program role responsibilities nevertheless continues collaborative work on early childhood facility and program needs, but more important continues working with the Board of Trustees on fundraising efforts anticipating expansion to the primary programs.  During this year recruitment for Elementary School Development, Fundraising and Start-Up Team is undertaken so it can get to work no later than the start of School Year Two.

During School Year Two, the Elementary School Development, Fundraising and Start-Up Team takes responsibility for continued general School grounds and facility construction/renovations, for grounds and facility development preparing the area and the spaces for the first self-contained Elementary School class, on continued information technology infrastructure build-out and with the Board on fundraising.  The development of the first class of the primary education program is in its stub year and it concentrates on collaborative staff administrative, professional knowledge and primary education systems preparation, on material construction of the first primary education program space and Rockaway College Elementary School promotion, family outreach, parent education and student recruitment and registration.  Recruitment of additional Elementary Team members is undertaken anticipating development work at the beginning of School Year Three.

With the start of School Year Three, the first primary education class is operational.  During School Year Three, the initial Development, Fundraising and Start-Up Team now having accepted program role responsibilities has been supplemented by additional Team members allowing the full Elementary Team to take responsibility for grounds and facility development preparing the area and the spaces for the second self-contained primary education class, on continued information technology infrastructure build-out and on continued fundraising.  The development of the second class of the primary education program is in its stub year and it concentrates on collaborative staff administrative, professional knowledge and primary education systems preparation, on material construction of the second primary education program space and Rockaway College Elementary School promotion, family outreach, parent education and student recruitment and registration.

During School Year Four, the entire Rockaway College School is operational with the second primary education class established.  Concentration during this year is on fundraising for expansion.  While it is highly optimistic to realistically plan expansion for the next school year, for the sake of having a comprehensive expression of implementation, the timeline will continue with expansion during Year Five.  And certainly if it is feasible expansion as outlined in Year Five and beyond would be accomplished.  Besides, it is highly likely that by the start of School Year Six there will be sufficient Elementary School students ready to move on to the next level, the outdoor intake of Rockaway College’s Venture School, to have the Venture School open to receive them.

Prior to School Year Five, members for Rockaway College Venture School Team would be recruited and assembled so it could assume responsibility at the start of School Year five.  During School Year Five, The Venture School Team would take responsibility for grounds and facility development preparing the Rockaway College area and the shared spaces of Commons, College library, offices, storage and lavatories and the specific areas and spaces of the two Venture Crew Bays as well as on continued information technology infrastructure build-out now including the college library and on continued fundraising.  The development of the Venture outdoor education intake program is in its stub year and it concentrates on collaborative staff administrative, professional knowledge and outdoor education systems preparation, on material construction of the outdoor education program spaces and Rockaway College Venture School/Lower School promotion, family outreach, parent education and student recruitment and registration to fill the two Venture Crews.   The Venture Team would work with the IT/Librarian to begin to identify and collect library resources. During this year recruitment for The Lower School Development, Fundraising and Start-Up Team is undertaken so it can get to work no later than the start of School Year Six.

With the start of School Year Six, the Venture School and its outdoor intake program is operational.  During School Year Six, the Lower School Development, Fundraising and Start-Up Team takes responsibility for continued shared area/space build-out, preparing the areas and the spaces for the six Cooperative Learning Labs, with continued information technology infrastructure build-out and with continued fundraising.  The development of the Lower School is in its stub year and it concentrates on collaborative staff administrative, professional knowledge and secondary education systems preparation, on material construction of the outdoor education program space and Rockaway College Venture School/Lower School promotion, family outreach, parent education and student recruitment and registration to fill the two Venture Crews.   The Lower School Team would work with the IT/Librarian to identify and collect library resources.

With the start of School Year Seven, the Lower School and its secondary education is operational.  Concentration during this year is on fundraising for expansion to the Upper School.  Concept planning here assumes sufficient Lower School students would be ready to move to the Upper School in two years.  Thus, those having started this School Year would be ready to move up by the start of School Year Nine.  Therefore, during this year recruitment for The Upper School Development, Fundraising and Start-Up Team is undertaken so it can get to work no later than the start of School Year Eight.

With the start of School Year Eight, The Upper School Development, Fundraising and Start-Up Team takes responsibility for grounds and facility development completing the shared College spaces of Commons, College library, offices, storage and lavatories and the shared Upper School seminar spaces as well as completing the information technology infrastructure build-out but it continues the Colleges fundraising efforts.  The development of the Upper School early college Great Question program is in its stub year and it concentrates on collaborative staff administrative, professional knowledge and curriculum preparation, and on Rockaway College Upper School promotion, family outreach, parent education and student recruitment and registration.  The two most crucial aspects of Team effort are in Great Question integrated interdisciplinary thematic development and in collaborative work with the IT/Librarian on resource identification and acquisition.

With the start of School Year Nine, the entire Rockaway College is established as The Upper School becomes operational.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The Rockaway College Concept Paper: Addendum-Administrative Governance

Democratic Education is all about individual responsibility in knowledge acquisition and collective responsibility in the operation of the learning community.  Thus, it follows that administrative governance should be a collective responsibility.  There are essentially two ways that happens: 1) administrative duties are integrated with instructional duties for the professional staff; 2) all administrative decisions are a school community responsibility to be proposed and resolved by way of school democratic meetings.  While policy governance is a program, school and institution-wide community obligation in the Rockaway College Concept, administrative governance remains the prerogative of the professional staff. 

Therefore, one would expect administrative duties to be portioned among the professional staffs of each of the two units of Rockaway College making the staffs collectively responsible for the construction, maintenance and operation of each unit.  And certainly, that would be the way in the instructional programs with processing, collecting and storing of student records, although such record keeping should be centralized in a “Records Office” for easy access of post residency requests and kept by individual staff as ready access demonstration of student performance and advancement, and as certain when it comes to instructional program capital and operating budget development and priority expenditures as the folks who are directly working the leaning systems with the youngsters this institution is serving know best what’s needed to make it all work in favor of their students. However, there is a great need with the limited funding anticipated in any such school to coordinate the inflow and outgo of money which is doubtful a decentralized administrative arrangement can suitably accomplish.  Thus, purchase ordering and disbursement of funds for the instructional programs would be centralized within an institutional-wide officer know as a “Business Manager”, although common sense suggests some immediate program needs require ready cash which would be available in a program petty cash account overseen collectively by the program staff and the lead unit administrator.

There are intended to be institution-wide ancillary support services such as IT/Library, Facilities and Grounds, Commons, and even Athletics requiring budgetary processes independent from the instructional programs.  Certainly staff within each support service would collaborate in budget development and priority expenditure. And like the instructional programs, purchase ordering and funds' disbursement for the needs of these supports would be centralized within the Business Manager’s office. And petty cash accounts would be set up here as well.

Other collective business duties such as donation and fundraising collection, registration in and tuition payments to the school, scholarship award management, payroll, insurance-both individual staff and school organization-and other benefit package obligations of all staff would be centralized within the Business Manger’s office.  While it may be of benefit in the future to establish a separate Records Officer supervised by a Records Manager, this paper currently places the centralized student records in the Business Office.

Coordination of administrative activity within each College unit would be fixed in lead administrators known as “Heads of School”.  The Heads of School facilitate the business side of the enterprise along with fulfilling daily supervisory and instructional responsibilities.  They are to see to the smooth operation of the management processes rather than as a strict overseer of obligation.  Rockaway College School and Rockaway College would each have a Head of School.

There is to be an institution-wide lead administrator known as the College Director which presently is the position of Project Director.  As the components of the institution become operational the Project Director would assume College Director duties until the institution is fully built out, at which time the title of Project Director would no longer apply or exist.

Under anticipated funding constraints the Heads of School and the Project/College Director would be obliged to accept instructional responsibilities along with lead administrator duties.  Admittedly, the close nature of the relationships of student to staff necessary for these unique environments to work to favor the population of this institution would place a greater burden on the lead administrators than if they were left just to manage.  And, surely at the earliest moment when funding allows, these managers will be relieved of instructional duties so they can dedicate themselves to the business of the school.

Coordinated administration for the institution as a whole would be vested in a “Head’s Council”.  The Council, comprised of the Head of Rockaway College School, the Head of Rockaway College and the Project/College Director would collaborate to see to the full compliance with appropriate and lawful practice concerning regulation, health, safety and business, to work with each program and general school community to assure policy governance continuity over time and to assure general learning environments and individual learning structures continuously align with the mission of the institution and the neuro-diversity of the student population, to coordinate facilities management and institution-wide budget development, to oversee the disposition and reconciliation of individual school component budget statements and accounts, to be the communication conduit to the Board of Trustees from the school communities, to work with Board of Trustees to secure the funding to satisfy both the business and the educational program needs of the institution, to be responsible for external relations, and for coordinating student recruitment. 

Management of student admissions would rest in the Head of whatever School to which a youngster applies.  But, the decision to accept or reject rests with the Head’s Council.  Management of the student scholarship application process would rest in the Head of whatever School to which the youngster requesting scholarship is registering.  But, scholarship decisions would be the sole responsibility of the Head’s Council.  Management of the instructional staff application process would rest in the Head of whatever School is recruiting.  But, the decision to accept or reject applications rests with the Head’s Council.  Management of the application processes to the ancillary support services rests with the Project/College Director.  But, the decision to accept or reject applications rests with the Head’s Council.  While the Board of Trustees officially extents acceptance into the school community, the actual decision on applications would rest entirely with the Head’s Council.

Additionally, the Head’s Council has student discipline duties.  A four step process is established within each program to provide social control over errant individual behavior.  Step one is an intervention of a peer ombudsman who takes the offender and anyone so offended through an informal resolution process.  If the errand behavior continues, step two would institute formal peer mediation along with an enhanced counseling from the mentors whose students are involved.  If these fail to remedy the situation, step three would bring the problem before the Morning Meeting of the program where the offense exists.  When all else has failed, step four brings the offending youngster, or youngsters, to be counseled by Head of School wherein the problem behavior resides.  Behavioral correction is structured through peer intervention and counseling without recourse to such punitive actions as involuntary community service, suspension, or dismissal. But, unfortunately, there may be times when errant behaviors are beyond the ability of corrective structures to abate.  Such as involuntary community service may be recommended, decided upon and accepted by the offending individual or individuals during a community meeting, but severe disciplinary actions such as suspension and dismissal from school can only be recommended by a Head of School in which the offense occurred and decided upon and enforced by the Head’s Council. 

General School Communities’ or General College Community’s recommendations of modifications of administrative governance to operate the institution more efficiently, especially, at lesser expense would be generously undertaken at any time by a necessary sensitive Head’s Council.

If either unit decides in General School Meetings to include their students in otherwise proscribed administrative governance, they may do so using what may be termed “administrative internships” where individually interested students assist staff in satisfying administrative duties.