Parents of elementary students in Louisville, Kentucky, will have a new choice in education this fall thanks to teacher leaders Abby Terranova, Jessica Forst, Adrianne Moore, and Jennifer Nelson. This team of young teachers created a plan for a new school that was the winning entry in the Jefferson County Public Schools District of Innovation Competition.
On schedule to be operational for the 2015-2016 academic year, Maupin Elementary: A Catalpa Model School will strive to meet the academic needs of each unique child through a balance of art, music, drama, movement, and experiences in nature. Teachers will follow an alternative curriculum timeline, and instructional work will come when children are developmentally prepared to achieve specific academic goals. The Catalpa Model seeks to bring warmth and joy to education, building a community to support each student as a whole person, and meeting them where their needs are.
Maupin Elementary: A Catalpa Model School will blend Waldorf tradition with the Kentucky Core Academic Standards, building each child’s capacity to think creatively and critically, understand and manage emotion, and work in a focused and willing manner. The daily rhythm will include an arts and movement infused, standards-based main lesson. Each afternoon, students will work to develop practical skills in classes such as gardening, foreign language, folk dancing, or handwork. Parent education and community outreach will expand the Catalpa program far beyond the walls of the school and into the Parkland neighborhood. Teachers will be given very clear instruction in the restorative justice approach to behavior management, seeking to heal relationships and increase tolerance and reciprocity within the community. Children and families will be encouraged to treat the school facility as a community center, and welcomed to participate in a wide variety of extra programs and services.
The school is now a member of the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education, a national organization that works to promote and support the development of high quality public Waldorf education. The Alliance’s focus is the strengthening of the Waldorf community by enlivening the movement and making the development-based education model accessible for all. The Waldorf method is one that has long been employed by public school teachers in Louisville, largely supported by Kentahten Teacher Training, who will also be offering The Catalpa Model’s professional development.
The Jefferson County Public Schools District of Innovation Competition began in 2013 with an open application, originally receiving nearly 80 ideas for implementation. Through three rounds of competition, and a series of presentations to community representatives and education experts, The Catalpa Model was selected by the Jefferson County Board of Education as a winner in August, 2014.
After the rigorous competition, the Catalpa team has continued to work with the Jefferson County Public Schools Cabinet and Jefferson County Teachers Association to an unprecedented degree.
For more information, please email: maupin.innovation@jefferson.kyschools.us
This is a guest blog written by one of the teachers in our Innovative Teacher Leader cohort to share about an innovative teacher or practice from their area of the state. To learn more about the work happening in the Commonwealth from these Innovative Teacher Leaders, who are working to redefine teacher leadership in Kentucky, check back throughout the month of March. We’ll be sharing guest blogs all month long.
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