Some of the 250 participants at the Virginia Institute at Westfields Conference Center listen attentively to a keynoter in the General Session room. More Good News from Basic Schools Cross Street School in Long Island and Principal Linda Langiulli made headlines in their local newspaper not long ago in a story that celebrates the importance of the Core Virtues to students and staff. As the story makes clear, everyone at the school takes the Virtues and the lessons they offer very seriously. Artistic displays of the Virtues are in classrooms, as is student writing about their meaning and value in daily life. In Basic Schools, character development is not an add-on program, and that is illustrated by Cross Street's approach.
Teachers weave the virtues into regular classroom learning.
In a lesson about Dr. Martin Luther King, students learn about the history of the Civil Rights movement, but also about compassion and a sense of purpose. Learning at Cross Street connects the academic disciplines and is wonderfully infused with the values that help children grow into caring and responsible adults. Here is just some of the evidence that shows the obvious and more subtle ways that schools and students are affected by this comprehensive framework for renewal. At Mantua Elementary in Fairfax, Virginia, children create an artistic chart that conveys important aspects about themselves to others as part of a larger project. In year two of the Basic School, some answers are different.