Teachers use videos and discussion to help students identify positive traits and why they are important, and students participate in role playing to understand how to apply the lessons in their daily lives. Because the school has all grade levels, the student council members do special activities for elementary school students, says Kruzel. They focus on including the younger students. For example, all students participate in a food and clothing drive for the needy that our student council leads. Counting on Parents Like many other charter schools, the Learning Center depends on an active group of parents who volunteer daily in every area of the school.
Parents help out as field-trip drivers and chaperones, classroom aides, and even janitors.
They also serve on the parent-teacher organization and head up fundraising activities. The focus of our school is on character education, says Kruzel, and to accomplish that purpose parents must be involved in their child's education. The school has been at its current location since 1998, when it moved from its portable classrooms into an existing building. Space is tight, though, so the school combines some grades and still uses two portable classrooms. But this year's addition to the building, plus another in two years, will give every grade its own space.