PHOTO: PPOS advisors Katie Young, Rue Graham and Joey Wychesit discuss opportunities for PPOS students to celebrate work, experience adventure learning, and progress through a series of community building rituals.
Community.
Lifelong learning.
High quality work.
Whole and healthy humans.
These four Pagosa Peak Open School values were tied to the work of PPOS parents, teachers, administration and school board on Friday, May 26 where they gathered, built and reviewed the school’s best practices.
Intervention practices, behavior supports, communication policies, school rituals and rites of passage stood center stage during this day-long work session. Participants shared ideas around field work, social emotional support, supporting students’ individual academic needs, and how to build greater community inside and outside the school.
“It was great being able to collaborate with teachers, board members and parents,” said PPOS advisor Katie Young. “It was nice to hear multiple perspectives and work together to make a plan on how to make PPOS the best.”
The group broke out into smaller committees to tackle these topics before seeking feedback from the whole group. The ideas shared today will be compiled into a “PPOS Best Practices” drive for all future staff.
PPOS board vice president Jesse White said, “Not only am I excited about how far this school has come, I am even more excited about where this school is going.”
Working collaboratively with the vision in mind is a huge part of the PPOS culture. What is applied with students is also applied at all levels within the school.
Pagosa Peak Open School is a K-8, tuition-free, charter school open to all Archuleta County families. The educational model is built upon project-based learning, a student-centered pedagogy that involves a dynamic classroom approach, through which students can acquire a deeper understanding through active exploration of real-world challenges and problems. Students in all classes at PPOS engage in multiple projects throughout the year; looking for ways to influence their own community, and create positive change.
“I’m thrilled to work in a school where I can get kids out of the building and cultivate curiosity in the community,” said advisor Rue Graham. “By putting field work in the forefront we are living the mission of creating life-long learners.”
Emily Murphy is School Director at Pagosa Peak Open School, the first District-authorized charter school in Archuleta County. Prior to her appointment as School Director, Emily filled various roles at PPOS including Project-Based Learning advisor, instructional coach, and assistant director.