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The Charlotte Jewish News - November 2005 - Page 32 CJDS and the Fletcher School Collaborate on Teacher Training Mariashi Groner, CJDS Director, has enlisted Betsy 'Stroud, community educator for The Fletcher School, to collabo rate in sponsoring an intensive training program for the faculty of several independent schools. Charlotte Jewish Day School has been a local pioneer in adopt ing and implementing Dr. Mel Levine’s “All Kinds of Minds” learning theories. Five years ago, before any other Charlotte schools were using this method, CJDS sent twelve faculty members to New York for formal training by Dr. Levine’s staff. Now the CJDS teachers are doing an in-depth review of Dr. Levine’s book, A Mind at a Time, which analyzes the eight “con structs” that comprise the learning process. Constructs are groupings of related neuro-developmental functions. They help to organize thinking and communicate about learning differences by focusing on the roles and interactions of the neuro-developmental functions with regard to specific behaviors. Some examples of constructs are memory, attention, social cogni tion, etc. When Mariashi realized that The Fletcher School was offering Dr. Levine’s “Schools Attuned” training, she approached Betsy about having nine joint monthly meetings, studying one construct each month. As other independent schools voiced interest in the pro gram, they were invited to join the study group. At this point the fol lowing schools are represented: Charlotte Latin, Charlotte Country Day, Providence Day, Charlotte Prep, and Trinity Episcopal. Teachers of all grades, from ele mentary through high school^ are participating. Aflac Clijford S. Laxer Associate An Independent Ass^viiile Representing Aflac P.O. Box 77204 Charlotte, North Carolina 28271-7003 704-281-7667 cell ClilT Laxer(a|us aflac.com aflac.com Yours Truly Needlepoint and Knitting Handpainted Needlepoint Canvases All New Canvases — Free lessons — Unique Gift Ideas — New and Old Customers Very Welcome Best Selection in Charlotte All Proceeds Go to Local Charities 3802 Columbine Circie 704-366-6765 Open Thursdays 9 a.m.-5 p.m. fr Giftr Visit Leah & Co. to Create Your Own Chamilia Bracelet Just Your Style! Our new fall and . winter lines are here. Matt & Nat handbags, Hobo handbags, Cashmink Wraps, Coats and much, much more.... and as always gorgeous designer jewelry including, Simon Sebbag, Michal Golan, Michal Negrin just to name a few. Complimentary gift wrapping for your convenience. 534! Ballantyne Commons Pkwy • Suite 550 • 704-845-5466 Each month a different school will host the program at its cam pus, and a representative of that school will serve as the facilitator. By the end of this school year, the teachers will understand the con cepts and vocabulary of Dr. Levine’s program. Following are two examples of the “All Kinds of Minds” approach: - A child is constantly tapping a pencil on his/her desk. Instead of reprimanding the child for this annoying behavior, the teacher understands that this child needs to work off energy in order to keep the rest of his/her body still. The teacher might ask the child to do a few chores that will allow for physical activity, or the teacher might even suggest that the child take a short break and do some jumping jacks in the hallway. - Another child is not following oral directions for a writing exer cise. The teacher determines that the child has poor short-term memory so may present visual strategies, such as writing direc tions on the board. The teacher might also ask the child to- repeat the directions. Mariashi’s favorite aspect of this educational philosophy is the children’s grade-appropriate “All Kinds of Minds” book series. The teachers read case studies to the class. Often a child will exclaim, “I’m just like that kid. I have the same problem.” Little by little, the children are learning to identify their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as those of their peers. As many independent schools and public school systems (includ ing CMS) are beginning to look at this program, Charlotte Jewish Day School is proud to be a leader and a mentor. SACS Visits Charlotte Jewish Day School On September 21 and 22, mem bers of the Quality Assurance Review Team of the Southern Association of Colleges of Schools-Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS-CASI) visit ed Charlotte Jewish Day School to assess our school’s readiness for accreditation. SACS-CASI is one of the largest accrediting agencies in the United States, and accredi tation by this prestigious organiza tion will provide our school with opportunities for receiving grants and matching gifts from charitable organizations and will aid our stu dents as they go on to other schools and colleges. CJDS has been preparing for accreditation for the past two years through curriculum docu mentation, a six-year organiza tional and financial strategic plan prepared by the school’s board of directors, a five-year school improvement plan, and documen tation of all aspects of our day-to- day operations. Through surveys and participation on action plan teams, parents, teachers, students, and community members were all involved in the formation of our school improvement plan. We were very pleased with the will ingness of our “stakeholders” to be a part of this underta.king. We would like to share with you an excerpt from a letter we received from Dr. Jean Owen, the leader of the Quality Assurance Review team, following the team’s visit: “Though our job was to evalu ate the integrity and quality of education you provide at the Charlotte Jewish Day School, in addition, we were stimulated pro fessionally in our conversations with you and your staff. You have established an organization such that all the stakeholders feel posi tive about the education of the children in both the affective and cognitive domains. We quickly came to feel the gracious hospital ity was not just for us, “the evalu ators,” but the way you do busi ness at CJDS. That is what we had hoped to see.” Our school met all twelve of the SACS-CASI required stan dards for accreditation, including such areas as financial adequacy, educational services, physical facilities and equipment, and man agement and supervision. In addi tion, the team assessed our plans for continuous improvement and rated our school exemplary in all categories, including items such as “The improvement process is consistently evident and focused on achieving the vision and expec tations of student learning,” and “Staff is aware of the methods for quality assurance and understands its importance and how it impacts other people and practices in the school.” The team unanimously recom mended CJDS for initial accredi tation. Their findings will be pre sented to the SACS board in November, and SACS-CASI will announce their decision in early December. We hope that we will be sharing good news with you at that time. ^ Switching Schools Changing from Religious to Secular School Proves Challenging for Middle Schooler By Zach Gorelick Switching schools is definitely something I’m familiar with. In the past year I have attended three different schools. I started out at the Barbara and Jerry Levin Jewish Middle School, an exten sion of the Charlotte Jewish Day School (CJDS for short), an ever growing parochial school. While my time there was nothing less than amazing, I exited seventh grade into a whole new world. I started last year’s school year at Charlotte Country Day School (CCDS). I was immediately “the new guy.” By February, I had been whisked out of CCDS and placed in Providence Day School, also a secular private school. This proved to be even more challeng ing than my first switch. Just when I thought i had remembered what seemed like a thousand names, I was again hit with the “confusion bomb.” Once I was in the rhythm of school again, I began to notice many differences between the sec ular schools and the Jewish Day School. I discovered two possible obstacles I faced, as well as a star tling revelation. The obstacles seemed to be names and trends. I was bombarded with names. In my seventh grade class at the Jewish Day School, there were twelve other children in my grade and now there are over 130. This can be a bit challenging. Another obstacle was fashion, culture and media. At the much smaller Jewish Day School, I didn’t have to worry about what I wore, did for fun, or watched on television. My friends didn’t care about that. They judged me based on my true character, not what reality show I watched or what music I listened to. The last thing I found, and the most startling, was the amount of Judaic knowledge that I actually retained. Many of the complicated Jewish studies that I thought I would never need or remember, I find myself spouting off to the questions of non-Jewish friends. As I continue my adventure through the educational system, I’d like to thank the Charlotte Jewish Day School for instilling in me great education, morals, and values, and to Providence Day School for helping me transition into my new school and into high school. I hope to be successful at Providence Day and know that the Jewish part of myself will always be there for me during my life. O
The Charlotte Jewish News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Nov. 1, 2005, edition 1
32
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