Families with students entering grades K-8 are invited to learn more about Pagosa Peak Open School, the community’s only District-authorized charter school.
PPOS will host two in-person Open Houses will be held tonight, Tuesday, February 9 at 7:30pm and this Thursday, February 11 at 5:30pm. At the February 11 In-person Open House, the school will have a Spanish translator available.
This tuition-free public school — open to all families in Archuleta County, is intentionally small, keeping a 1-to-15 teacher to student ratio. PPOS operates on a year-round schedule to facilitate summer learning opportunities. Relationship building is a high priority, as is academic achievement.
Because of its popularity, some grade levels appear to be full for the 2021-2022 school year, but families are encouraged to place their students on the waiting list, as classroom openings do occur during the year.
If you would like your student to join Pagosa Peak Open School and engage in Project-Based and Place-Based education, please go to the school’s website at https://pagosapeakopenschool.org/enrollment and fill out the Enrollment Interest Form.
Pagosa Peak Open School was started by a group of local parents and grandparents dedicated to bringing an innovative educational choice to our small mountain community. The school founders visited multiple innovative schools across Colorado and New Mexico, and attended workshops and conferences to learn the process of starting a school. They researched alternative forms of education and decided that a school focused on Project-Based Learning (PBL) and Place-Based Education (PBE)would provide the best educational model for their students and teachers.
The experience of thousands of teachers across all grade levels and subject areas, backed by research, confirms that Project-Based Learning (PBL) is an effective and enjoyable way to learn and develop deeper learning competencies required for success in college, career, and civic life. PBL is not merely an excellent tool for learning academic skills; it also strengthens a child’s ability to successfully collaborate, and to persevere in the face of challenges. The founding parents determined that a PBL education model would help prepare children for “real life.”
Place-Based Education was the other exciting component to the educational model at Pagosa Peak Open School. PBE immerses students in local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities and experiences, using these as a foundation for the study of language arts, mathematics, social studies, visual arts, agriculture, science and other subjects. It recaptures the ancient idea of “listening to the land” and living and learning in harmony with the earth and with each other. The main purpose of “outdoor education” is to provide meaningful contextual experiences — in both natural and constructed environments. This type of education can occur both inside and outside the classroom. Place-based education has been referred to as “community-oriented schooling,” “ecological education,” and “bioregional education.”
PPOS projects have been a rewarding success for our students, with the students themselves often leading projects from conception to completion. Recent projects have included studies on tools, a bird festival, wildlife monitoring on the Continental Divide, a poetry celebration, an exploration of the ‘physics of sports’, outdoor classroom design, how money ties to philanthropy, and a researched presentation to the Pagosa Springs Town Council about the need for waste receptacles on Pagosa walking trails.
In the 2018-2019 school year the school hired its current director, Angela Reali Crossland. She and the staff have established a cohesive working environment that supports the success of the school. About 50% of the staff are also parents to Pagosa Peak Open School students, so passionately helping our school succeed is a unified goal.
PPOS is dedicated to creating a community of empowered, lifelong learners by providing a multi-age learning environment designed to “foster confidence, high academic achievement, and the joy of learning through original and meaningful work.”