Schools should be ready and able to teach all kids. This will not be a description of the physical features or facilities,but rather a discussion of how this school for our future will be organizedand how it will function. Each descriptor is interactive withand complementary to the others. It is the presence of, and interaction among, all of them that causes this school for our future to be what itis. Child and Family Centered Children are first and foremost members of families.
Families are thefirst, the primary, and the lifelong point of reference and reality forchildren.
In the early and adolescent years this point of reference is exceptionallystrong and often exclusive. Also, we would benefit by recognizing that parents do love their childrenas much as they are capable, and they care for and about their childrenas much as they are capable. Not all parents have the same capacity to loveand care, to nurture and support. We cannot excuse children and familiesfrom their commitment to learning and achieving school success. We alsocannot excuse our inability to succeed in teaching all kids.