VERITAS COMMUNITY SCHOOL
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Mission Statement
VERITAS Community School has been created in response to the need for fair access to excellent education and all of the elements of a healthy life. Our founder, Katy Ridnouer, has taught at the local community college as an English instructor since 1996; semester after semester, she meets students who cannot read on the college level. They've graduated from a local high school, yet they are not prepared to successfully complete the next phase of their life. She has always thought, 'If we can begin when they are young and still enthusiastic about learning, then we can nurture strong readers and mathematicians.' Katy's also concerned about the health of today's students as one in three children in NC are overweight or obese. VERITAS will give students tools to become their best selves. There's nobody else like us in Charlotte, and we will change the education world by creating new best practices from which all schools will benefit. Join us in this social justice cause. Together, we will make a difference.
About This Cause
VERITAS Community School is a tuition-free, public, charter elementary school that will open for all children eligible for school registration in Charlotte, NC in August 2015. Our mission is to empower the scholar and athlete in every child through health and wellness practices within a peaceful environment. We will reach this mission through our 3 Pillars: Targeted Academics, Health and Wellness, and the Peaceful Classroom. In addition, we will nurture teacher leaders through weekly professional development offerings and opportunities to lead peer-to-peer workshops. Targeted Academics We will drive high academic standards through differentiated, collaborative, and inquiry-based instruction, using the Core Knowledge Sequence, a content-rich, sequential, and developmentally-appropriate curriculum that will give students the foundations needed to become capable and creative citizens who are strong readers and mathematicians. We will teach with a student-centered approach where the teacher is a facilitator who serves as a personal model of how to acquire knowledge and serves as a resource to students. Our teachers will individualize instruction through interpreting data derived from performance assessments thereby challenging all students to perform at their highest level. Health and Wellness Health and wellness are the underpinnings to student engagement, sustained attention, and ultimately, student achievement. We will create an environment where exercise and healthy eating choices are the daily norm, for research has shown that exercise and a balanced, healthy diet stimulate alert, active bodies and minds in students, leading to higher academic achievement and a higher happiness factor in the school. Our Chef Educator will encourage healthy eating habits, and our PE teacher will connect the dots between movement and learning. Every teacher will incorporate movement into everyday’s lesson plan, and the whole school will participate in Morning Movement and all-school exercises, such as Weekly Walks and Stop and Stretches. Peaceful Classroom Each teacher will model, guide, and practice socio-emotional skills to give students the opportunity to discuss and resolve conflicts within themselves and without. This gives teachers and students a common language to solve problems peacefully and collaboratively, raising students’ sense of safety and ultimately, grades and performance on achievement tests. Professional Development The scope of the VERITAS mission does not merely encompass its work with students but also recognizes the value of the schoolhouse as a training ground for teachers and aspiring teachers. Consequently, once teachers have been hired, great care will be given to ensuring that every teacher receives individualized professional development suited to their skill set, strengths, and weaknesses. All VERITAS teachers will set individualized goals related to areas of weakness, areas of interest, and areas of need at the beginning of each school year. The teachers will be given opportunities to showcase their strengths by providing professional development for other teachers as well as mentoring other teachers, instructional assistants, and student teachers. In addition, we will forge relationships with local colleges and universities that house teacher training programs as a means for teacher candidates to participate in student teaching opportunities and conduct in- depth education research. VERITAS is committed to ensuring its teaching force is supported in its efforts to provide students with innovative instruction that drives meaningful academic gains.