Dream School International
a demonstration school
Premise:
We have known for years that the academic and social preparation of our children is failing. For example, from 1950 to the present America has moved from an academically dominant position to an 'also ran' status that lags behind most of the world's industrialized nations. In fact, a recent review of the data indicates that the longer our children remain in school, the worse they compare to their international peers. What is even worse is that American children are notoriously subject to the kind of bullying at school that causes serious levels of anxiety and depression which adds to the negative impact American schools have on our children. So, what is wrong? Why do most of our efforts to improve education so consistently fail that a child's time at school has become more of a liability than an asset to his social and intellectual development?
We believe the problem lies in the fact that most approaches involve tinkering with the 'A' Box. As a result, our school buildings tend to look like colorless squares and rectangles without windows, lacking only the barbed wire to complete the impression of a prison. The children's days are filled with the boredom of sitting at tables working on repetitive, zerox curriculums followed by staggering amounts of homework carted home each night, which not only interferes with their family lives and love of learning, but triggers lifelong habits of procrastination. In short, no matter how we tinker, our kids are stuck in this outdated mode of 'education' set in anxiety-producing school environments.
The goal of Dream School International is to catapult our students and culture out of this obsolete 'A' Box approach to learning via transporting them into a paradigm-changing C box experience.
Within the context of a 'C' Box education, we are committed to insuring that each of our student's intellectual, personal, emotional, social and spiritual development will equip him/her to function at his/her highest level of possibility in an effective, cooperative and loving manner in a world with increasing challenges.
In order to accomplish this, we recognize that the emotional, social and spiritual development of each child constitutes the most critical components in the determination of the degree to which we as individuals, communities, states and nations will succeed in an increasingly demanding and interdependent world.
Academic success alone will be of limited value. Without the complete transformation of the system we cannot expect a change of any significance in the students coming out of that system. Thus, anything short of systemic transformation is simply not acceptable.
The Promise:
The Dream School International is a 'C' Box program, beginning with the architecture, then penetrating the curriculum and finally embodying all aspects of the program with a generalized sense of caring and kindness.
As such, the Dream School is based on a transformational, systemic model of intellectual, social emotional and spiritual development that has demonstrated its efficacy and viability. The School will offer a K through 12 environment that provides:
- A view of each student as unique, special, and filled with individual interests and passions that will be identified and nurtured throughout each academic year
- A systemic milieu of learning involving the family, student, faculty and staff with a teacher/student ratio sufficient to allow the amount of individualized attention and mentoring needed in order to maximize the potential for the student to develop in all areas to their maximum ability and capacity
- A social milieu in which the expectation will be for all (staff, faculty, students) to interact with each other at all times consistent with the commandment to 'love each other as I have loved you,' which will in turn provide an environment free of intimidation, anxiety and doubt where students are able to feel truly loved and safe and are thus free to learn.
- A physical plant with facilities and services that reflect the transformational nature of a 'C' Box environment, including a Platinum level 'Green' design'; state of the art performing arts center, athletic facility, learning centers (classrooms), technology, and resources to match and encourage most of the interests of each student;
- The understanding and importance of living in community, both within the school, within their families, and with the community in which the school is located. Cooperation is a deeply held value in the Dream School and will be demonstrated and highlighted throughout the K-12 experience. Partnering with community based organizations, companies etc will provide students with a continual experience of connecting with and being a part of a larger community
The following Mission Statement incorporates the transformational nature of the Dream School, the passion held by many for a world reflecting the Dream School's mission, and the aspirations of all who want to participate in the Dream School's mission:
To provide an inclusive uncompromised, and unequalled K-12 Christian educational experience incorporating a new standard of excellence in the academic, social and emotional development of the students for the purpose of delivering the necessary tools to our student body and their families to insure the healthy, effective, cooperative and loving personality development of each individual child, fully preparing him/her to be a world citizen and leader in and of the 21st Century.
