“Leaders at Imagine Charter School at Weston believe that developing well-rounded students goes beyond learning English and math.
The school created a Character Development Progress Report, in which third- through fifth-graders reflect on their character by evaluating themselves and tracking their progress.
The school’s progress report was recently recognized by the Character Education Partnership with a 2011 National Promising Practices Award.
Media specialist Nadja Pardo said the school’s character education program is a big part of the curriculum.
‘Our school community works together to empower students with tools that help them excel academically, and at the same time, prepare them to become responsible, caring citizens in our communities,’ she said.
The first step of the process is defining specific expectations for each of the school’s core values. The progress report allows students to assess themselves every marking period in each of the expectations under each core value, with an area for teachers to do their own evaluations.
The marks go from “E” for excellent to “U” for unsatisfactory. Teachers then use the form to conference with students and parents on areas of improvement.
‘The students are constantly exposed to these character traits and rewarded for demonstrating them,’ said Lynn Michaelides, who has had three children enrolled in the school. ‘As a parent and volunteer at the school, I’ve seen these positive behaviors in the classroom, on field trips and at family events. … The program will hopefully allow all of the students to succeed as they progress through middle school, high school, college and even life.’
Eileen Bakke, vice president of education for Imagine Schools, is proud of the school’s latest accolade.
‘They recognize the value of character formation, leadership and service as important components of a quality education,’ she said.”
Article published on July 22, 2011 by SunSentinel.com