Aspen's CommunityOur Mission and Vision
Our mission
is to provide students with a well-rounded, Core Knowledge-based
education which meets the intellectual, creative, and social needs of
each child.
Our vision
is to prepare our students for future educational opportunities and
life in a global society by creating an academically rigorous,
literature-rich environment where class sizes are small, and a strong
sense of community is built and valued.How do we accomplish this?- Small Class Sizes
- Aspen CARES Bead Bucket
- Monthly Assemblies
- Classroom/Homeroom Daily Community Meetings
- Character Development & Problem Solving Skills
Click the link below to see our Aspen Student Community Commitment, written by Aspen Students!Aspen.pdfSmall Class SizesOur small class sizes enable students to develop deep relationships with one another. They also help staff members to truly know not only your child's name but who they are. We value small class sizes at Aspen because it allows us to know your child's strengths, challenges, likes and dislikes. We have a place for everyone at Aspen! - Elementary Class Sizes (K-5) 22 students
- Middle School Class Sizes (6-8) 25 students
Aspen CARES Bead BucketShowing the values identified by students in our Student Community Commitment is important at Aspen. Each grade level has a bead color assigned to them. Staff members, at any time may choose to recognize good choices both large and small by giving out beads to students. Not all good choices are recognized by a bead . . . because we want to encourage good choices for their own sake. Our Aspen CARES bead bucket supports school-wide recognition of just a few of the good choices exhibited by students each day we're here!
We set whole-school goals on our bead bucket. Each time we reach a goal, each classroom has a vote as to how we'll celebrate our good choices. Our celebrations also allow us to be with students from other grade levels. We have currently met our first two goals, and are working toward our third. Below you will see how our good choices have really begun to add up this year! - First Goal Celebration - Lunch & a Movie
- Second Goal Celebration - Game Board Hour
- Third Goal Celebration - . . . we're getting close!
Monthly AssembliesEach month we meet as a whole school for a short Assembly. We focus on different things. For example, in October our sixth graders helped bring a bullying prevention story to life by showing how to "Be the One" to stand up for yourself and others when they are being bullied. In December, Mr. Bessire (our Physical Education teacher) introduced our Family Fitness Goal pages for students to use with their families during our winter break. During January's assembly, we introduced our 'Compliment Tree' and in February, focused on our Food Drive.
Assemblies allow us to come together, build shared knowledge and values, celebrate our successes and be good role models for one another. See some of our assemblies in action below!
Classroom/Homeroom Daily Community MeetingsCommunity is also built on a classroom level each day at Aspen. Community meetings allow students to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of one another. It also provides time to develop oral speaking skills (sharing time), play active games together (both mentally and physically challenging), use our current learning in a different context (academic review games), and model problem-solving strategies (at a classroom level). Each community meeting looks a little different because each classroom is a little different! Ask your child what they've done lately during their community meetings - you may even learn a new game!
Character Development & Problem Solving SkillsWe utilize the 'Wise Words' curriculum which helps us focus on a different character trait each month. Our latest character trait is "citizenship" which is shown by actions such as compassion, humility, and service. Our focus on solving problems supports student identification of problems and ways to develop effective social strategies. The goal is that these strategies will be ones they can use both now, and later. We are building toward long-term social/emotional success.
|
