Beliefs
1. All children can learn.
2. A safe and caring environment nurtures student learning.
3. Employing and retaining highly effective leaders, teachers, and staff and providing opportunities for their professional growth are crucial to the schools’ effectiveness.
4. Partnerships among schools, students, parents, and the community are vital for student success.
5. Schools are responsible for providing a challenging, differentiated, safe, and student-focused learning environment.
6. Learning occurs when students are motivated and engaged.
7. Students must learn how to think critically and develop problem solving skills in order to succeed.
8. The State and local community share the responsibility to ensure that a viable public education program is provided for all children and youth.
Guiding Principles
Early Learning and Student Success
-Responsibility for children’s readiness lies with the adults who care for them and the systems that support them.
-The family plays the most important role in a young child’s life.
-Child development occurs across equally important and interrelated domains-physical well-being and motor development, social and emotional development, and cognition and general knowledge.
-The first five years of life are a critical development period.
-Building relationships between Pelham City Schools Charter System and local birth to 5 agencies is critical for preparing the children of Pelham for success.
Teaching and Learning
-Higher levels of learning are attainable for all students.
-People learn differently at different rates.
-Motivated and engaged learners derive more from their learning than do passive learners.
-High-quality, job-embedded professional development for teachers and leaders supports the teaching-learning process.
-The quality of teaching and leadership makes a significant impact on student learning.
-Strong curriculum is deep, balanced, continually improved, rooted in the real world, and based on a common set of learning expectations.
-The integration of technology into educational practices is essential for student engagement.
-Students learn best from teachers who foster strong and ethical relationships with them to promote thier learning, safety, and engagement.
Human and Organizational Capital
-Effective teaching enhances student learning.
-Effective, high quality principals (leadership) are essential in the advancement of student achievement.
-Selection and preparation of teacher candidates and ongoing support of teachers affect the quality of teaching.
-Effective feedback and supports through ongoing performance evaluation are essential to retaining high-quality teachers.
-Organizational structures and processes at the school and district levels affect learning.
Governance, Leadership and Accountability
-Effective educational governance requires a strategic vision.
-Children and society benefit from effective educational governance.
-Good governance requires effective leaders operating with integrity, ethical behavior, and good intent.
-People are accountable for their actions and outcomes.
-Relevant and accurate information is essential for good decisions.
Culture, Climate, and Organizational Efficacy
-Trust, collegiality, and teamwork strengthen collective efforts (Collective Efficacy).
-Organizational culture is an important determinant of climate and is a distinguishing factor between effective and ineffective schools and districts.
-A healthy culture is devoid of blame and fosters engagement of all stakeholders in finding solutions to challenges.
-High-performing organizations recognize, appreciate, and address cultural differences; strength can be derived from the rich diversity of our public schools.
-Safety, order and respect are necessary conditions for teaching and learning to occur.
Teaching and Learning Resources
-People need a combination of real and virtual places for learning and sharing.
-Relevant and accurate information is essential for good decisions.
-Technology enhances engagement in the learning process.
-Learning is enhanced when the learning environment is flexible and adaptable.
Financial Resources
-The best funding mechanism is one that is based on a well-crafted strategic plan for maximizing student learning.
-Expenditures for high-quality educational programs pay dividends by fostering wellbeing of communities and the state.