My children have attended Corbett schools for the past 7 years and it has been a multi-age structure and 4-day school week since we have been enrolled.
I feel it is a very successful teaching environment for all students no matter what their level of learning or learning style is. The children have a little longer school day, which provides more time with their teachers. The multi-age environment gives the teachers 2 years with their students allowing an opportunity for the teachers to really be able to get to 'know' their students. I get the impression that some of you with concerns have not yet experienced this teaching environment, because your children may be pre-school age or under - I would encourage you to 'don't knock it, til you've tried it'. Many of the teachers have student teachers and parents are always encouraged to volunteer and do. They also have high school students who help out in class throughout the day - so the teachers have a lot of assistance on a daily basis available to them. There is plenty of interaction with the children and learning is made fun.
I have not seen or heard of any bullying issues. To blame it on 'multi-age' classrooms is wrong. It can happen in single grade classrooms as well. If you have a problem or feel your child is a victim of bullying why are you not bringing it to the teacher or principals attention?
Concerns about blending age groups.. You are talking about a handful at each age, in each classroom. Unless your child is an 'only child', how do you deal with this in your own home? Do you separate your older children from the younger, so they won't influence one another? I don't see an issue socially or otherwise in Corbett's teaching environment. The teachers are experienced in multi-age and the grade school classes this year were paired up with an older class (4-6 grade) to better form unity in the school among the students in all age groups (they call themselves families - the older students help the younger kids, in a small group). My kids have been on both ends of the multi-age structure (younger and older).
As for the 4-day school week. Its awesome! Our Corbett students probably attend 'more' school than Portland Public schools.. Inservice days and teacher work days are all scheduled on Fridays, when the students are off. Four day school weeks go quickly, and who doesn't love a 3-day weekend, every week. I hear concerns about it being a burden on working parents to have to find someone to watch their schoolage kids one day a week.. what do you do during the summer?
Newsweek voted Corbett in the Top 10 best schools in the country recently. Multi-age? 4-day school week? Hummm..IT WORKS!
Thanks for posting your opinions. We all have kids. We are all advocating for our kids and concerns. Let's be clear that concerns and questions should not be seen as "detractors"... or those that are just trying to cause problems.
Corbett has been multi-age for years. Yes. We have two children in the grade school. The difference in having multi-age classrooms of two grade levels to the change of having K-3 and 4-6 classrooms is quite a difference for many children. And one of the most important things to note here, and one of our main concerns as community members and parents in the Corbett school district, is that most parents were not even made aware of this change - until the last week of school by a letter.
Corbett schools has been 4 days a week. Yes. 4 days a week is not an issue for our family now, but I can understand new working parents or new to Corbett without a network of established friends or family ... that this is not the norm and can cause some problems or stress. I don't think it is fair to find fault with those that have these challenges. I think that would be very hard for some people. So I understand that frustration.
Bullying. I am really glad that you & your children have not had issues with bullying. No one wants that - trust me. But this does exist for some students. We have had to address these issues and have handled them appropriately at every turn with both teachers and administration.This is not so much an issue in the classroom as it is with breaks and lunch where it is more than a "handful" of older kids. I can assure you, that there are issues. Physical and verbal bullying.
Newsweek. I think it is great. ( That top ten is amazing for our
HIGH SCHOOL ...and most highschools are blended but there is a maturity difference vs. K-3 & 4-6, yes? ) We all know that our schools would not be nearly the success they are without our staff, parents and teachers... We all work together to create the result. Our grade school teachers are going to be overly taxed with properly preparing three grade levels in one classroom. We have family and friends that are educators. ( There are teachers that are not happy with these changes.... They don't feel safe talking openly. ) This is not a good sign. That is a fact.
Charter School - the only future in Corbett? How can we both have the top ten school in the nation AND be broke? We are being told that our public schools in Corbett - will not survive financially, are not capable of surviving, without the out of district funds and kids from the Charter school.
What is wrong with that picture? What does that mean? The public school in Corbett is following not only the blended class structure of the Charter school but also the curriculum ....Our teachers are losing their union representation in Corbett Charter ... and we may be losing a public school in Corbett Oregon. That is something our community needs to sit up and notice.
