Raleigh Progressive School

The Raleigh Progressive School believes that every person has a right to an education that is personal, relevant, challenging and one that prepares the student with practical skills for life.

True learning takes place when each student is an active participant in his or her education, when the course of study is personalized by teachers and mentors who know them well, and when school based learning is coupled with community and field experience.

With a solid core of professional educators, artists and creative thinkers, RPS is a beehive of intergenerational activity by parents, students, community members and professionals. RPS recognizes this meaningful interaction, which honors the identity and integrity of the individual and affirms the vital relationship between his/her inner life and one’s work in the world.

RPS is registered and in compliance as a private school by the NC Department of Non-Public Education. Accredited by theNational Coalition of Alternative Community Schools (NCACS). Member school of The Coalition of Essential Schools (CES).

Partnering with other institutions creates strength, flexibility and choices that cannot be offered otherwise. It is one example of the RPS commitment to "being sustainable." Students can take electives not offered at RPS.

Founders	Tara B. Fitz and Susan Johnstone
President	Tara B. Fitz
Director of Education	Susan Johnstone
Application Fee	$200 – non-refundable
Time to Apply	Rolling Admissions
Admissions Process	Schedule Information Session and/or Student Interview. Complete and submit application along with application fee, academic records and Student Questionnaire. Schedule Student Visit.
Student Body	Grades 7-12 for 2010.

Electives	Fine Arts, environmental studies, music, photography, yoga, peace and diversity studies – varies with the interest of students
Athletics	Flexible schedules to support the committed athlete
Tuition (2009-2010)	$9000 for core classes (8:30-1:30pm) $900 new family fee Materials, books, field trips, and certain electives are an additional charge **multiple tuition payment options payable by check or credit card
Hours	8:30am – 1:30pm or 8:30-2:45 pm** (additional fees for full-day)
Additional Electives	1:30-3:30pm (open to both RPS and outside students)

Student Expectations
All students will be expected to attend classes, participate in activities which may include designing learning goals, completing assignments/packets in a timely manner, communicating with teachers and staff, participating in assessments and representing the RPS community proudly and respectfully both in and away from school. Students that continue to fail to meet these expectations will be dismissed.

School Calendar
RPS will follow the traditional Wake County Calendar beginning August 25, 2009 and ending June 4, 2010. Although students will not be required to attend summer classes, they will be offered 2010.

Students with siblings on year-round calendars may take up to 1week off per track out with permission.

3 Class Groupings – Grades 6-8, 9-10, 11-12
RPS believes that multi-age grouping benefits student academic learning, social and emotional learning and builds strong community relationships. Advanced students can model for beginning students; the beginner can rise safely and comfortably to the challenges of the more advanced, thus creating less competition, while providing a firm foundation in esteem and celebration of individuality. Although goals may differ for each grade or individual, students are encouraged to work together using similar skills and access each other for guidance or feedback. 2009-2010: There will be one middle school class and two separate high school classes. Students are grouped first, based on classes they need to meet graduation requirements.

Assessment
Students are expected to design and present exhibitions as part of their assessment at the end of each quarter. Students’ grades are based on class participation, class activities , homework , and written and oral assessments. Students’ GPAs are based on a 4.0 scale. All students will conference with their teacher advisors about their studies. They contribute to the process with their own queries and desires for learning with an awareness of goals and objectives. All students will keep a portfolio and/or a 3-ring binder of work to be examined by the subject teacher and teacher advisors at the end of each quarter. Progress reports will be generated quarterly. Standardized testing required by the NC Department of Non-Public Education is administered in 6, 9, and 11th grades.

RPS operates as a democratic school which centers on democratic principles and participatory democracy with participation from both students and staff. We hold community meetings daily. Our learning environment positions youth voice as central in the educative process by engaging students in many facets of school operations, including learning, teaching, and leadership. Adult staff support students by offering passive and active facilitation according to students' interest and the RPS community's needs as a whole. The Director of Education will make the final decision when necessary.

RPS is an affiliate of the Coalition of Essential Schools (www.essentialschools.org) and adheres to their ten common principles:

Experiential Learning
At all levels, there will be opportunities for discovery and experiential learning in which active participation and the development of life-long learning is the goal. Areas for experiential learning may be: service learning, outdoor education, interviews, exhibits, electives, and field-study trips. This is co-curricular rather than extra-curricular.

Place-Based Learning
What is happening in our communities and our lives IS learning! Making it part of our discussion and study IS education. It is not separate from, nor can it be packaged as a subject called “current events.”

Living in and around Raleigh North Carolina provides students with a unique opportunity to study people, places, ideas, problems and issues that are relevant to them and those who reside here. It opens the door for further study in socio-cultural, historical and economic disciplines. The lens can then naturally widen to encompass regional, national, and global perspectives.

Tara B. Fitz

Tara earned an M.A. in Community Education from Goddard College. The Raleigh Progressive School was her graduate thesis project. She was the 2008-2009 recipient of the highly esteemed Spirit of Goddard Award for her vision, research, commitment, leadership and community activism. Although she is a lifetime member of the American Montessori Society and a certified Montessori teacher, she does not believe that it or any one philosophy can truly encompass the needs of the learner.

Her educational philosophy lies in the belief that the most meaningful learning experiences happen through relationships. In schools, the small class setting allows the time and environment for a culture of authenticity, trust and mutual respect. This therefore naturally creates an ideal environment in which to learn. Whole, healthy, educated people who seek out opportunities to learn, understand and apply the obtained knowledge to "real-life" situations are desperately needed.

"Learning has been confused and clouded with temporarily memorizing facts. Sure you might become a great game show contestant and test taker. Then what? Real life doesn't have any of these tests."

Today knowledge alone is no longer power. Integrating the knowledge with "real life" is imperative to cultivate critically engaged thinking, life-long learners and problem solvers.

Learning begins and continues by: Asking questions, creating dialogue and searching for possible meanings and answers.

We must know our students and their families well. We must recognize and celebrate differences. We must create learning environments that allow the time and space for the majority of student needs to be met. It can be done. Education is everyone's business. It's personal. It has to be."

Tara was raised in Northwestern New Jersey. She grew up surrounded by a creative circle of artists, musicians, teachers and innovators. Her Dad was a guitar maker, inventor, teacher and entrepreneur whose guitars were showcased at the Smithsonian Institute. His untimely death in 2005 at age 54 was the catalyst for moving RPS from idea to reality. Her Mom’s interest and dedication to a holistic lifestyle and educational experience led to Tara attending a Montessori school. (She later attended public middle and high school.)

"I was very aware of the disconnect between school and real-life. Even then, the focus was on doing what you were told, not asking questions and 'making good grades.' That somehow it would equate to being successful later in life. Nothing I learned in middle or high school prepared me for college or real-life."

Years later “synchronicity” led her to High Point University where she made many friends with students and professors alike.

“The education was personal, caring and friendly. My professors knew me by name even after 15 years!”

It was the combination of all of these experiences that fostered a life-long love of learning, compassion for others and a passion for creating a personal, relevant, learning experience for today’s middle and high school students.

She has an amazingly supportive husband, 2 bright and funny sons, 2 Himalayan cats, a hamster and a golden retriever.

She is a lifetime member of AMS, AERO, CHADD, NCALS, and too many other acronyms to list. She doesn’t drive a Prius, but still aspires to be green!

Susan Johnstone

Susan took interest in the elementary child and completed her Montessori training in Boston , MA and has taught in the Montessori classroom since 1987. She became certified in adult education and designed courses for Montessori interns, Montessori teachers and for people wanted to lead a healthier life. She became a teacher mentor and school consultant. She is a mother to three delightful, opinionated boys on three different paths, adding to her other mission, consciously raising the 21st century male! She became a school administrator and learned about how the public system works for and against children and teachers. During her administrative role, she was shown a path to open her own school with her own system. Her friends’ and family’s response is “It’s about time!”

Susan believes that true education is all about the learning and that learning can be measured in so many different ways: auditorily, visually, kinesthetically, and through performance. It is an educator's job to keep current with the latest teaching strategies to reach the learners as well as observing to improve the environment for learning and preparing for the next environment whatever that may be. I believe in interdisciplinary education, cosmic curriculum, productive dialogue, objectives and rationales for lessons, meaningful and purposeful work, professional development, and keeping a healthy perspective. I believe in the power of two or more minds, problem-solving, context of the learner, goal-setting, progress not perfection, reflection, and humor. My strengths and experience are public speaking, designing curriculum and educational courses or workshops, keeping current, establishing objectives, mentoring, understanding systems and improving them, and making a meaningful connection with others.

Professional Valerie will be analyzing transcripts, supervising personalized elective portfolios (PEP), writing course equivalents, facilitating the newly created “Credit for Proficiency Program”(CFPP) and teaching SAT prep classes. She is the founder and owner of Carolina College Connections, a full service college planning and consulting firm. She is an NC licensed teacher. She is a Duke University graduate and has a Master’s degree in education and also completed a graduate program in college counseling. She taught high school for several years, most notably at School Without Walls in Washington, DC.

Personal Valerie was born and raised in New York City’s Greenwich Village. It was there that she developed a love for the arts and theater. Her parents instilled in her not only an appreciation of the arts, but also for diverse cultures. She has lived in Paris, France, Florence, Italy, Boston, MA, and Washington, DC. She was a student athlete and an avid equestrian, when in her freshman year of high school Valerie was diagnosed with Leukemia. She spent the next 3 years battling the disease while maintaining as much normalcy as possible. She emerged victoriously. She was accepted to Duke (her alma mater), Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Middlebury and Michigan. Today as a college counselor she is passionate about the proper match for student and institution to ensure the best college experience, socially, academically and financially. It is worth noting that Valerie and many professionals in her field, have seen a shift in institutional quality and research has confirmed, that there are many small, less well known, liberal arts colleges offering a better education than those that are considered the academic elite.

Furthermore, overall future success, begins with self-knowledge of one’s innate gifts and talents as well as interests. A student is more likely to be accepted, graduate on time, and have life-long personal fulfillment which is a direct indicator of happiness and success.

She is the mom to 2 young children, has 4 cats, a dog. She has an eclectic taste in music and has accumulated over 400 CD’s. She can often be found at Memorial Auditorium viewing the latest Broadway show or at Walnut Creek Amphitheater in her favorite cowboy boots.

“ The personalized education at RPS is second to none. Making education relevant and meaningful to a student is paramount in ensuring future academic, professional and personal success. Social and emotional skills can be learned only when students feel understood in a trusting environment in which they feel safe. In addition, coming from School Without Walls, I was drawn to the mission and vision of using the community as the extended classroom.”

Bruce Burnside - High School Student Director, Humanities, Sociology, Philosophy, History

Bruce was born and raised in Greensboro, NC, and—despite its charms—yearned early for adventure and the wider world. He found those things first in reading and travel. At sixteen he left for a year in eastern and western Germany with a stack of books and never looked back. Between books Bruce found time to spend six months on the road with a rock band in seventeen countries, to work on an arctic wolf sanctuary in Oregon (where a wolf named Nepenthe teased him daily), to start a publishing company, and to edit a book about travel. Eventually Bruce pursued a Religious Studies degree from UNC Chapel Hill, which brought him to Jordan for a summer to study current events and Arab history and to Sweden for a half of year of immigration studies. During this time he also led the film guild at UNC, made a "research" Super-8 film about seven classic fairy tales and had a "metaphysical detective novella" published by a small Canadian publisher. Most recently Bruce worked as a guide in his favorite city on Earth, Berlin, leading historic walking tours through its streets, as well as the Sachsenhausen concentration camp memorial. He also found time to go sit in the park, to go see bands play, read at cafes and visit old Prussian palaces—some of his favorite things to do in the whole world. History is one of Bruce's passions, especially how it connects to our present lives and provides insight for where we are and where we are going, and is thrilled to a part of the Raleigh Progressive School.

Janet Weed was raised in New York, Boston and San Francisco alongside a large family that embraced progressive education, independence, and self-exploration through participation in the arts, world travel, service and cultural adventures.

She gave a lot of money to New York University to receive her BFA in Drama and a Graduate Certificate in Arts Administration. In November, she put a graduate degree in Applied Theatre aside and left her beloved concrete jungle (Manhattan) to move to Raleigh, marry her scientist husband, buy her first home, and join the amazing RPS family!

After many eventful years living and traveling around Europe and Africa she worked as a professional Costume Designer for Broadway, television and independent films. She left her budding career to volunteer without pay for 1 ½ years on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota and a Visitors Center in Utah. She only then discovered her true passion was….teaching! She was “broken in” by at-risk Deaf youth in a Residential treatment program (which opened up doors to later teach deaf orphans in Ghana and non-verbal Autistic and Down’s Syndrome children in the US). While trying to figure out if Special Education was her “calling” she realized that she needed to combine her love for the arts WITH education. For the past four years she has directed a Ghanaian High School Visual Literacy program that runs alongside an annual Pan African Film Festival. She is in the process of putting together a book showcasing those students’ photographs and stories. She was an art, dance and drama teacher at several schools in Boston and most recently taught performing and visual arts, fashion and photography in some of NYC’s toughest schools. She has collaborated on an anthology called “Theatre of the Black Atlantic”, writes arts based curriculum whenever she is given the opportunity, and enthusiastically facilitates professional development workshops for teachers, artists and administrators on integrating arts into the curriculum. Along with her new position at RPS, she teaches drama at Arts Together and Durant Road Musical Theatre. She is pursuing two certificates at Duke in Documentary Studies and Non-Profit Management. Janet is a board member for the Henry W. Baldwin Youth Home that offers therapeutic, educational, and advocacy programs in Chapel Hill. She is thrilled to be working and learning with the Raleigh Progressive School community.

In her spare time Janet enjoys taking Ballroom classes with her husband, exploring the Triangle, going to every show at DPAC, running slowly on the local greenways, and watching HGTV for house decorating ideas.

April Jenkins hails from the Houston, Texas area and has always had a passion for the education of children. April has a B.A. in Sociology and a Master's of Social Work from North Carolina State University. April has participated in a variety of social advocacy projects as well as educational collaborations. Some of those activities range from writing a charter for a school in Austin, Texas to her most recent venture with forming a community partnership named Hand In Hand Alliance (www.handinhandalliance.com). If education and community advocacy wasn't enough to keep her busy, she is a divorced mother of 4-year old twins (YIKES!). April keeps her sanity by boxing, dancing and singing (mostly in the shower, but some public venues). Her favorites consist of African history, chocolate, neo-soul live bands, chocolate, meditation and prayer, chocolate, and finally, chocolate. She is VERY excited to be a part of this new endeavor.

Rich has published 2 novels, a short story collection, 4 plays, a book of poems (forthcoming), two young adult sports biographies, a chapter book for children, and workbooks on how to teach writing to children and adults. He has won fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council (twice). He is a First Place winner in the 2007 NC Poetry Society Competition. His work has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and Best American Short Stories. His sports biography on Yao Ming was awarded a 'Top 40 Books of the Year' award from the Pennsylvania Librarians Association. He has also published feature articles and reviews in newspapers and magazines around the country. His column, "Under the Radar", runs monthly on the Book Pages of the Raleigh News and Observer. He wrote the curriculum for the Beginning and Intermediate Fiction Writing courses, and teaches them online, for UNC-Chapel Hill. His training workshops for teachers, parents and social service personnel are in demand statewide and nationally. He is currently learning how to dance the Tango and the Soulja Boy, and can play 'Song of Joy' on the harmonica.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”—Margaret Mead

For RPS, our community consists of people inside and outside of school walls, both near and far, who believe in the mission and vision of our school and are willing to share what they know, so that all within the community benefit from the experience, now and in the future. Most importantly, it is the belief in the adolescent: When given the voice, tools and opportunity, each can then make a difference in our world.

Each person belongs to many overlapping communities. In real life we turn to them often to provide guidance and information.

The local community can be an invaluable resource for our students. Many students do not know “what they want to be when they grow up.” Some have an idea, but may realize AFTER college, (or much later) that the path they chose is not the best for them. RPS believes students need exposure to real people and real situations to evaluate where they are headed after high school. We are pleased to offer a community based, place-based and most importantly a customized learning program!

RPS has generated a pool of teachers, mentors, and professionals who are willing to share their personal and professional expertise with our students. (They are both voluntary and fee-based.) Opportunities for students include: Classes, workshops, internships, self-directed study, and “shadowing.”

Partnerships with college and university programs expose students to a myriad of options BEFORE applying to college. Juniors and Seniors are eligible for “dual-enrollment” which allows them to obtain college credit in high school.

If you, or someone you know would like to join us to teach a class or workshop, please contact us!

We would like to thank the following people and businesses for their expertise, consultation and support!

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