Greenfield Center School
History
The Greenfield Center School (GCS) was
established in 1981 as a laboratory school of the Northeast
Foundation for Children
(NEFC). Together, GCS and NEFC developed
the Responsive Classroom (http://www.responsiveclassroom.org) approach
to teaching. We began with 55 students and 4 staff members
in a rented public
school building on Conway Street in Greenfield. In 1989, we
moved to our current location.
Greenfield
Center School is a K-8 school where we think about, refine,
and practice the Responsive Classroom principles on a
daily basis with our students and engage in lively debate about
our practices with our colleagues. Our classrooms are open
for
observation to educators. To make our school practices authentic
and transferable to public school settings we actively seek
students
who have diverse learning styles and abilities and who come from
diverse economic and ethnic backgrounds.
The
year 2001 was pivotal in the history of the School. Launched
by a decision recommended by the NEFC Strategic Planning Committee
and voted by the NEFC Board of Directors,
the
school became a separate non-profit corporation on January 17,
2002. On April 7, 2004, Greenfield Center School purchased
the Brick Building, the Finer Building, and the Yellow House
from
NEFC. During the Community
Celebration of Ownership on
May 1, 2004, we transformed the school’s campus.
More than 100 parents and staff members worked to create gardens,
plant shrubs and flowers, carve out and mulch pathways, paint
walls and woodwork of the Brick Building, and establish a children’s
garden replete with bean draped tepees.
Administration
The Greenfield Center School is currently governed by a Board
of Directors whose primary responsibility is to provide for
the
School's financial well being and ensure the school carries
out its mission. The Board is made up of parents, alumnae parents,
staff and community members. It oversees several committees
within
the school, including Development, Finance, Marketing, Organizational
Support, and long Range Strategic Planning.
Program
As the place where educators developed the Responsive Classroom
approach, the Greenfield Center School proudly honors its past
by continuing to base its practices on the Responsive Classroom
philosophy. We also enthusiastically move forward.
On
October 29, 2001, GCS was accepted as a certified Coalition
of Essential Schools site and is currently working with Lamprey
River Elementary School in Raymond, NH. Lamprey River Elementary
is a public school that has 600 students in Grades preK-4.
GCS
received a three-year grant through the State of New Hampshire
to help Lamprey River Elementary reform its educational program
and become a Coalition School. The following is a list of our other pursuits:
-
Andy
Hauty, a GCS Uppers teacher received a $2,500 Toshiba
America Foundation Award (http://www.toshiba.com/taf/index.html)
to build three 25-watt solar panels that
will be donated to the
Franklin County Food Bank Farm in Hadley, MA.
The science project is Light, Action,
Power: Teaching Photovoltaic, Renewable Energy and involves the study of electrical systems
including wiring, circuits, batteries, and
inverters.
-
Bob
Strachota, an Uppers teacher, is the author of On
Their Side: Helping Children Take Charge of Their
Learning,
published in 1996. Bob was the keynote speaker at the October
16, 2001 NAEYC conference near Albany, New York. His book is
used in education courses around the country.
-
Sue
Schwartz,
a Special Abilities instructor, taught a workshop
at Mohawk Trail Regional High School’s
Parent University on conducting family meetings.
She is also teaching
workshops at the Hampshire
Educational Collaborative, (http://www.collaborative.org/)
a nonprofit, multi-service agency providing opportunities
to
advance learning
for all students.
-
Dr.
Laura Baker, GCS principal, is co-authoring a book with Dr.
Ross Greene, author of The Explosive
Child. This text
will refine Dr. Greene's theories of collaborative
problem-solving from a one on one relationship
to the context of the classroom.
Dr. Baker also offers staff development workshops
for educators at HEC (Hampshire Educational Collaborative).
-
Dr.
Beth Watrous, coordinator of GCS Special Abilities Services,
often teaches a class on Special Education at Antioch
New England.
This is a vibrant community! |
Feature
Story:
"Schools That Think." Read about the
Greenfield Center School in Fast Company
magazine.
Thoughts about GCS: "The students are taught formally and
informally
(and by osmosis!) over and over again, to treat both themselves
and others with respect and
appreciation for
differences. To me, learning can only be based on this social
foundation. Center School is the emotional
intelligence school."
-Ava
Gips
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