Open Wings Learning Community is a school that focuses on the whole child with all of the child’s strengths and challenges in mind. Our school environment nurtures deep and meaningful learning through a balanced experiential and integrated educational program. Teaching is based on the learning needs of each child. We draw children into learning by pursuing the child’s interests. While keeping a close eye on state and national educational standards, we benchmark students against themselves. Our setting is rich in the arts and utilizes technology to enhance education. The entire school community benefits from drawing on a diverse community of learners. The individual learner benefits from an environment that is emotionally safe and nurturing. Our students demonstrate significant growth because their learning program is designed for them and is based on their strengths. Comprehensive feedback is given to parents.
At Open Wings, we desire to serve children who are often underserved in other settings due to normal school constraints. While our educational philosophies allow any student to thrive as a learner, we welcome students with special needs including language delays, dyslexia, ADHD, PDD and autism. We recognize that early experiences shape brain architecture. Research tells us that creating the right conditions for child development is likely to be more effective and less costly than addressing problems at a later age. A strong foundation in the early years increases the probability of positive outcomes in the future. We have seen measurable growth in our first group of students, this learning is also evident to our parents. The growth of our students is helping families to function better.Our Roadmap:
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- Teaching and learning begin with the needs, interests, questions and diverse life experiences of the individual student, who works to create a meaningful understanding of self, community and the world.
- Students learn by doing: by constructing knowledge; by collaborating with administrators, faculty and staff in the real work of the school; and by engaging as citizens to promote social justice and democracy within the school and the world beyond it.
- Teachers and students work together to create a dynamic learning community grounded in cycles of inquiry and action, and focused on the processes and the products of learning and living.
Simply stated, people learn best through experience and discovery. At Open Wings, the purpose of education is for students to develop their critical thinking skills and to become thoughtful participating citizens in their communities. Our team of talented educators and volunteers is providing our students with the learning opportunities that allow them to be successful and to support bright futures.