Watershed Parent Information Meeting

1. “A grounded, rooted learner
understands that his/her
actions matter, that they
affect the community
beyond the school. It is
out of this particular
formulation that the
„student as resource to the
community‟ takes shapethat understanding that
students need to be
thought of as productive
assets to the health of a
community.”
Rural School Challenge Research and
Evaluation Program, 1999

2. The Watershed School
Making the Local Relevant Again

3. The Watershed School
• FNSBSD public school
• Open to all children
• Curriculum independent
of school district
• School of choice

4. Application Process
• Application period
• Now – April 2
• Lottery
• April 12
• School visitations
• April 27 & 29
• Parent contract

5. School Day and Calendar
• FNSBSD calendar for 2012-13
• School hours
8:30 – 3:00
• 8:00 Drop-off
• 3:00-3:20 Pick-up

6. School of Choice
What We Offer
•Small school atmosphere
•Locally relevant curriculum
•Rigorous academics
•Service learning projects
•Outdoor education
•Regular ski and hiking outings
•Extra-curricular activities
-Running club
- Ski club
- Biathlon
- Math Counts
What We Do Not Offer
•Bussing
•School lunch program
•Band/Orchestra
•After school programs
•School counselor/behavior
specialist

7. What is Place-Based
Education?
• Defining “place”
• Four components
• Cultural Studies
• Watershed Studies
• Public Process
• Economy
Through a balanced focus on economic development and environmental preservation, the
community and its businesses get revitalized, state curriculum standards are met, and
students are given valuable opportunities to learn in real-world settings.
David Sobel, Connecting Classrooms and Communities (2004)

8. Outdoor and Environmental
Education
Environmental
Education
•Understanding outdoor ecosystems
•Highlights conservation/sustainability
•Examples
Project Learning Tree
Alaska Wildlife Curriculum
GLOBE Program
Camp Habitat
Outdoor
Education
•Learning to survive and enjoy the outdoors
•Camping, hiking, skiing skills taught
•Examples:
NOLS (Natl. Outdoor Leadership School)
Outward Bound
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts
Alaska Conservation Camp
Place-Based Education at The Watershed School
Incorporation of outdoor skills into curriculum focusing on
deepening students’ sense and understanding of place

9. Importance of Outdoor
Learning
Increases student confidence
Promotes active, healthy lifestyle
Provides authentic experience
Instills sense of environmental
stewardship
"In the
end we will conserve only what we
love. We love only what we understand. We
will understand only what we are taught.”
Baba Dioum

10. Broadening Circles of
Knowledge
World
US and N. America
Tanana Valley and
Alaska
Neighborhood
and Community
Family,
Classroom,
School

11. Developmental Levels of
Nature Study
Empathy (K – 2)
Develop connection to living
things
Focus on enjoyment through
direct experience
Exploration (3-6)
Investigations into natural
systems
Positive, academic
experiences in the outdoors
Social Action (7-8)
Learn about regional
environmental challenges
Local, hands-on projects
What’s important is that children have an opportunity to bond with the natural world, to
learn to love it, before being asked to heal its wounds.
David Sobel (1997)

12. Why Teach Place-Based
Education?
Response to narrowed curriculum
Improves understanding and
appreciation of natural world
Develops stronger ties to
community
Builds active, informed community
members
Motivating, relevant concepts
Academic achievement

13. Place-Based Social Studies
and Science Curriculum
• Unique curriculum sets this charter school apart
from other schools in Alaska
• Depth rather than
breadth
• Relevant curriculum
motivates students

14. Language Arts and Math
• Follow goals and objectives of the FNSBSD Language
Arts and Math Curriculum
• Site-based materials
• Singapore Math
• Algebra I
• Connects to science
and social studies

15. Creative Arts
• Incorporates visual arts, music, drama, and literary
arts into academic areas

16. Physical Education
• Double district
requirement for
elementary
• 75% out-ofdoors
• Cross country
skis required

17. Behavior Expectations
Students need to develop:
•Personal responsibility
•Sense of community
Outdoor instruction requires:
•Self-control
•Ability to focus on task at hand
•Willingness to participate
•Safe behavior

18. The Watershed School
Challenging Academics
Study of Natural Surroundings
Study of Community and Culture
Responsibility to Self and Community

19. "... the great waste in school comes
from the child’s inability to utilize
the experiences he gets outside the
school in any complete and free way
within the school itself; while at the
other hand, he is unable to apply in
daily life what he is learning at
school."
John Dewey, The School and Society (1899)
For more information about place-based education and The Watershed School:
www.thewatershedschool.com
(907) 374-9350