As Atlantis Charter School educators, it is our philosophy that education is the single greatest investment we make in our students and in ourselves. We believe that every student enrolled at Atlantis should have the opportunity to receive an education as an inalienable right. In turn, our students will be guided to understand and so reflect the value of lifelong learning for all.

Our educational philosophy is based upon the belief that just as a rising tide raises all ships, educational access raises the abilities, the opportunities and the knowledge of all learners. We acknowledge that accelerated technological change, rapidly accumulating knowledge, increasing global competition and rising workforce capabilities around the world makes 21st century skills essential. We believe teaching basic skills and 21st century skills are not mutually exclusive. When done concurrently, they can, and will, reinforce each other. To this end, we are developing and implementing a curriculum that emphasizes core subjects and the skills needed to succeed throughout life.

 Literacy is the foundation upon which students build an evolving understanding of their world. 

Although the traditional time for students to learn the necessary skills and strategies to read and write is during the elementary grades, the teaching of these literacy components does not stop when they reach the upper grades.  While the focus shifts from “learning to read to reading to learn”, teachers continue to provide rich instruction in the processes and strategies good readers use to access a wide range of materials.  Students continue to develop as strategic, metacognitive readers.  Literacy instruction also becomes more interdisciplinary as students use their reading and writing to develop, synthesize, analyze and share their thinking across the content areas. 

As students reach middle school, some students are at risk of losing their motivation to read and write.  We strive to strengthen students’ vision of themselves as readers and writers by providing choice, time for independent reading as well as opportunities to read high interest material.  Making literacy meaningful through authentic tasks and activities engages even reluctant learners and connects these skills to students’ daily lives.   When we allow students to read like real readers, and write for the same purposes and audiences as real writers, they are much more likely to respond with real enthusiasm and as a result, learn.  These are some of the principals that guide our yearly, weekly and even daily decisions regarding literacy instruction at Atlantis Charter.

In the writing classroom, students continue to use the recursive process introduced in the elementary writer’s workshop.  They move their writing pieces through pre-planning activities, drafting, revising and editing.  Finally, pieces are polished for publication for the class.  Composing solid essays using graphic organizers, writing in a variety of genres and developing a wider vocabulary are some of the important objectives for the upper school student writer.

Our instructional decisions are guided by these Guiding Principles from the Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Framework:

Guiding Principle 1

·         An effective English language arts curriculum develops thinking and language together through interactive learning.

Guiding Principle 2

·         An effective English language arts curriculum develops students’ oral language and literacy through appropriately challenging learning.

Guiding Principle 3

·         An effective English language arts curriculum draws on literature from many genres, time periods, and cultures, featuring works that reflect our common literary heritage.

Guiding Principle 4

·         An effective English language arts curriculum emphasizes writing as an essential way to develop, clarify, and communicate ideas in persuasive, expository, narrative, and expressive discourse.

Guiding Principle 5

·         An effective English language arts curriculum provides for literacy in all forms of media.

Guiding Principle 6

·         An effective English language arts curriculum provides explicit skill instruction in reading and writing.

Guiding Principle 7

·         An effective English language arts curriculum teaches the strategies necessary for acquiring academic knowledge, achieving common academic standards, and attaining independence in learning.

Guiding Principle 8

·         An effective English language arts curriculum builds on the language, experiences, and interests that students bring to school.

Guiding Principle 9

·         An effective English language arts curriculum develops each student’s distinctive writing or speaking voice.

Guiding Principle 10

·         While encouraging respect for differences in home backgrounds, an effective English language arts curriculum nurtures students’ sense of their common ground as present or future American citizens in order to prepare them for responsible participation in our schools and in civic life.

The Science and Technology/Engineering and Social Sciences Curricula were implemented during the past school year. Health and Physical Education, Foreign Language, and Arts curricula were developed during the past school year; they will be completed during the 2007-08 school year. Throughout all of our curricula writing and implementation, we have sought ways to frame lessons in a marine context, as well as utilize technology integration.  As more of our own, school–written, curriculum is implemented, opportunities to fully incorporate thematic oceans systems fundamental concepts will be possible. A matrix, based upon the National Science Foundation’s Centers of Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) project, will be created to not only explore and develop ocean literacy curriculum, but to establish connections across the disciplines. 

To remain current, and insure that the best instructional practices are implemented, professional development for all teachers, paraprofessionals and administrators is a top priority.  We want to continuously find ways to reach all levels of students’ abilities, modify instruction when necessary, challenge the advanced students, and meet individual needs on a daily basis.

Teachers at Atlantis employ a variety of teaching models and instructional strategies, including cooperative learning, guided inquiry, direct instruction, constructivism, project-based learning and peer coaching. Special education teachers provide students with special needs additional instructional support in one-on-one or small group settings, as well as work cooperatively with the classroom teacher in an inclusion setting. Through the Title I Program, children also receive supplemental services in Reading and Mathematics. We highly value the involvement of our students’ counselors. Caregivers will have the opportunity to read the curriculum guides, especially to become as familiar as possible with their child(ren)’s subject matter in each grade.

The Greater Fall River Community, from which we draw our students, faces critical challenges in bringing up and preparing work-ready, productive citizens. This is not a problem unique to our neighborhood. Worldwide, we are witnessing an increasing fragility of the systems that provide for the security and care of children. The erosion of essential support systems, and the family and community relationships that “hold” children, impacts many of our students. We endeavor to meet this challenge with a “whole family” support system. The Atlantis Charter School Family Learning Center provides counseling, learning opportunities and activities designed to create a cohesive relationship among students, families and faculty members, including appropriate and effective parenting education programs.

As educators, we relate to the whole child – academically, emotionally, socially and physically.  We seek to provide our students with a connection to all aspects of life, while providing them with a nurturing and healthy environment in which to grow, learn and develop.  Our national standards, and programs from the federal government, i.e., No Child Left Behind (NCLB), play important roles in our educational process.  We foster a climate of mutual respect, dignity, dedication and commitment to the entire learning community.  We are confident that we will make a difference in our students’ lives!