Polaris Expeditionary Learning: Fall 2017
Culture and Community Context
Polaris is a K-12 Expeditionary Learning school in the Poudre School District (Fort Collins, CO). It is a choice school, meaning that students enrolling at Polaris are not necessarily bound to the limits of the school neighborhood. Its mission is to “develop 21st century learners through rigorous academic coursework, high quality adventure experiences, character development, and leadership opportunities.” Polaris’s emphasis on learning expeditions over classroom lectures gives students a strong link between subject content, life skills, and community awareness. The lesson structure also enables students to study a subject in depth across different units. Students produce work that not only demonstrates their mastery of knowledge and skills, but also represents high quality “real work.” As a result, they exhibit a sense of pride for what they’ve learned and hold themselves accountable for their learning.
Because Polaris encourages community engagement and collaboration, students have a strong awareness of what is going in Fort Collins. This includes how local businesses are run, what the history of the town is, and how they could participate in some of the festivals and events as part of their projects. There is also a strong sense of community engagement within the classroom. Because Polaris’s motto is “we are crew, not passengers,” students feel closer to each other and more willing to step into the instructor role when helping each other out with projects. Teachers are also treated as fellow crew members. Though they’re still the main facilitator of the lessons, they hold students accountable for their learning and teach them how to take responsibility for their actions if they misbehave. Both teachers and administrators exhibit a friendly and optimistic disposition when interacting with students and parents.
Because Polaris encourages community engagement and collaboration, students have a strong awareness of what is going in Fort Collins. This includes how local businesses are run, what the history of the town is, and how they could participate in some of the festivals and events as part of their projects. There is also a strong sense of community engagement within the classroom. Because Polaris’s motto is “we are crew, not passengers,” students feel closer to each other and more willing to step into the instructor role when helping each other out with projects. Teachers are also treated as fellow crew members. Though they’re still the main facilitator of the lessons, they hold students accountable for their learning and teach them how to take responsibility for their actions if they misbehave. Both teachers and administrators exhibit a friendly and optimistic disposition when interacting with students and parents.
Supportive Structure
Polaris has eighteen secondary teachers, ten elementary teachers, two counselors, and two paraprofessionals. It also has a full-time health technician and a Poudre School District registered nurse who visits weekly to address student health care needs. Like most public schools, Polaris has a standard medication and immunization form that parents fill out so students can get medical support while doing their adventures, intensives, or field work activities. Parents of the students enrolled at Polaris are also very involved with the school. They volunteer to help chaperone learning expeditions, share their personal insights on a subject, fundraise for the school, and organize after-school events. Polaris’s website claims that it “has some of the most active parent volunteers in the district.” Polaris also works closely with Colorado State University students, particularly in the school of education. In art education specifically, students commute to Polaris once a week to teach art in the K-5 classrooms.
Demographic Characteristics
Polaris has about 295 students total enrolled in both the elementary and secondary settings. 81% of the students are Caucasian, 7.5% are Hispanic, 2.4% are Asian, and 0.3% are African-American. 56% of the students are male, while 44% are female. 64% of the students have free and reduced lunch. The student to teacher ratio is about 17:1. Class sizes are kept small so learning expeditions are more manageable and individual teacher/student mentoring happens more often.
In terms of core curriculum passing rates, here are the statistics:
As of 2015, Polaris has a 78% graduation rate.
In terms of core curriculum passing rates, here are the statistics:
- 39% for math
- 57% for English/language arts
- 32% for science
- 17% for social studies
As of 2015, Polaris has a 78% graduation rate.
Classroom Environment and Students
In Brittany Hapner’s combined second and third grade class, the room is very open and spacious with large windows and lot of room to walk in between tables. It was divided into six centers: art center, literacy game center, expedition center, computer center, reading center, and math/writing center. The SMARTBoard was located at the front of the room, typically used in the morning to take attendance (sometimes students could take attendance by selecting their name on the SMARTBoard). The SMARTBoard was not used much during art lessons, and I did not see how it was used to support instruction for other subjects. But it’s clear that technology is an important aspect of the Polaris curriculum.
The art supplies with neatly organized in the art center, which was located across from the door. It had a lot of standard supplies, such as watercolor tins, paintbrushes, oil pastels, paint shirts, tempera paints, etc. The craft supplies (such as foam, paper, popsicle sticks, and other construction-based materials) were put in storage cabinets above the students’ backpacks. The classroom sink was located between the classroom door and a set of bathrooms shared between Brittany’s class and the Kindergarten room. Though Polaris has an art teacher for the secondary levels, CSU students in the art education department offer art instruction to the elementary students. Most of the CSU students do a co-teaching situation.
The general classroom culture and climate is friendly, focused, and curious about learning. During the morning circle-up meetings, students frequently expressed their excitement about creating art. They were also engaged with the projects and patiently persevered through some of the creative obstacles and challenges that my co-teacher, Emily, and I posed to them. Students also sat in grouped tables, which included at least four to five students per table. Because students were not segregated in rows of desks, there was a strong communal awareness with the students when they needed to problem-solve with their projects. It was very common for students to take initiative by helping their classmates answer some of their technical questions. At times, they even volunteered to lead a mini-demonstration on how to draw a certain part of the face or achieve a certain watercolor effect. This learning atmosphere built a strong sense of trust between the students and their instructors, which taught students to become self-sufficient artists and hold themselves accountable for their actions.
The art supplies with neatly organized in the art center, which was located across from the door. It had a lot of standard supplies, such as watercolor tins, paintbrushes, oil pastels, paint shirts, tempera paints, etc. The craft supplies (such as foam, paper, popsicle sticks, and other construction-based materials) were put in storage cabinets above the students’ backpacks. The classroom sink was located between the classroom door and a set of bathrooms shared between Brittany’s class and the Kindergarten room. Though Polaris has an art teacher for the secondary levels, CSU students in the art education department offer art instruction to the elementary students. Most of the CSU students do a co-teaching situation.
The general classroom culture and climate is friendly, focused, and curious about learning. During the morning circle-up meetings, students frequently expressed their excitement about creating art. They were also engaged with the projects and patiently persevered through some of the creative obstacles and challenges that my co-teacher, Emily, and I posed to them. Students also sat in grouped tables, which included at least four to five students per table. Because students were not segregated in rows of desks, there was a strong communal awareness with the students when they needed to problem-solve with their projects. It was very common for students to take initiative by helping their classmates answer some of their technical questions. At times, they even volunteered to lead a mini-demonstration on how to draw a certain part of the face or achieve a certain watercolor effect. This learning atmosphere built a strong sense of trust between the students and their instructors, which taught students to become self-sufficient artists and hold themselves accountable for their actions.
School-wide Policies for Management, Safe Schools, Conflict Resolution, and Students with Special Needs
Conflict Resolution and Management: Though teachers are treated and facilitators and fellow crew members, they have a strong classroom management system that holds students accountable for their actions. Brittany specifically rings a bell in her class to get students’ attention, or she waits quietly until everyone is silent before she proceeds with her instruction. She also makes sure that each student has a classroom chore that they can do to keep the classroom clean and organized (such as stacking and arranging chairs at the desks). If a student needs a redirect, Britany follows these steps:
Safe Schools: The Poudre School District promotes an inclusive and safe climate through proactive and innovative services, relationships, and communication. One of these services is Safe School, a program that focuses strongly on crisis prevention and management. Safe School involves a supportive network of administrators that address lockdowns, fire evacuations, severe weather warnings, building check-ins, and training programs for extreme crisis situations. In addition, PSD has a threat assessment process that empowers educators, law enforcement, and other community members to respond to targeted school violence. It also has anti-bullying policies (JICDE—Bullying Prevention and Education and JBB—Harassment of Students) and a Safe Schools Tip Line to report all concerns and threats to personal safety.
Special Needs: Polaris has a non-discrimination policy that welcomes students with learning disabilities and special needs. Though Polaris has two paraprofessionals (Michael Espinoza and Maureen Gates), Polaris does not have a special education program commonly seen in traditional public schools. The Poudre School District offers resources that are applicable to students with special needs at Polaris. One of these resources is the School to Work Alliance Program (SWAP), which helps youth with mild to moderate special needs find and keep a job.
- 1st redirect: politely remind the student to get back on track.
- 2nd redirect: politely ask them to change their behavior and tell them what type of behavior is expected. Also, remind them that the next time they will have a discussion in the hall.
- 3rd redirect: talk with the student in the hall about their behavior. If there is another redirect the student may be removed from the room.
- 4th redirect: create a problem-solving contract, where the student and teacher talk about what they can do to adjust these behaviors.
- 5th redirect: Administrative support in office.
Safe Schools: The Poudre School District promotes an inclusive and safe climate through proactive and innovative services, relationships, and communication. One of these services is Safe School, a program that focuses strongly on crisis prevention and management. Safe School involves a supportive network of administrators that address lockdowns, fire evacuations, severe weather warnings, building check-ins, and training programs for extreme crisis situations. In addition, PSD has a threat assessment process that empowers educators, law enforcement, and other community members to respond to targeted school violence. It also has anti-bullying policies (JICDE—Bullying Prevention and Education and JBB—Harassment of Students) and a Safe Schools Tip Line to report all concerns and threats to personal safety.
Special Needs: Polaris has a non-discrimination policy that welcomes students with learning disabilities and special needs. Though Polaris has two paraprofessionals (Michael Espinoza and Maureen Gates), Polaris does not have a special education program commonly seen in traditional public schools. The Poudre School District offers resources that are applicable to students with special needs at Polaris. One of these resources is the School to Work Alliance Program (SWAP), which helps youth with mild to moderate special needs find and keep a job.