Stamford Environmental Interdistrict Magnet School

Curricula Outline and Plan for Implementation

The mission of the Stamford Environmental Interdistrict Magnet School is to create a diverse school community through a challenging program of environmental studies that fosters a culture of collaboration, action learning and stewardship.

Core Beliefs

The core beliefs for the Stamford Environmental Interdistrict Magnet School were developed by the original Magnet School Planning Committee composed of teachers, administrators, business and collegiate representatives, and environmental agencies. The six core beliefs that will shape the school’s curriculum are: Experiential Learning, Community Learning, Student Achievement, Partnerships, Staff Responsibilities, and Leadership. Although this school will be unique in many ways, two of the school’s core beliefs in particular will distinguish it from other schools in Stamford:

· Authentic, project-oriented and community-based learning focused on environmental studies and projects of environmental stewardship

· Partnerships with community and educational organizations that support the project-oriented environmental program both during the school day and during the before- and after-school hours.

Numerous potential school partners were included on the school’s original planning committee, including SoundWaters and the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk. These institutions, as well as the Bartlett Arboretum, the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, and others, have already expressed their continued interest in partnering with the school. Other environmental and afterschool organizations are currently being contacted to determine their interest and capacity in supporting the Stamford Environmental Interdistrict Magnet School.

Use of Standards-Based Curricula throughout the Stamford Public Schools

As a Stamford Public School, the Environmental Interdistrict Magnet School will employ the same rigorous curricula in use in other Stamford schools upon its opening in September, 2009. Specifically:

Environmental Themes

At the Environmental Interdistrict Magnet School, the environment will be used as an integrating context for learning across all subject areas. Students will engage in inquiry-based units focusing on building global awareness and the application of scientific skills in all subject areas. For example, students will learn how natural geography and man’s actions in nature affect societies locally, nationally, and across the globe in Social Studies. In Language Arts, students will read and write about nonfiction work focused on environmental literacy.

In the summer of 2006, the EMS Curriculum Team began to outline the environmental topics that students in each grade will explore at the new school. These environmental themes will overlay the standard curriculum of the Stamford Public Schools. Project-based learning opportunities that might be offered specifically through the resources of local partner organizations are being explored this year. Once a school administrator and teachers are hired in the summer of 2008, the staff will spend a significant amount of their preparation year (before the school opens in 2009) designing specific toolkits and units of inquiry to supplement the existing district curricula and the Environmental Magnet School focus questions and objectives that have already been developed. Samples of focus questions that have been explored are listed below:

Students as Research Scientists

Students in every grade at the Environmental Interdistrict Magnet School will act as stewards of the environment (see flow chart below). Students in all grades will engage in scientific research and apprenticeship that correlates with the environmental themes being studied that year. In kindergarten, students will begin learning how to take measurements and graph results in conjunction with the action research they will engage in at the school. Students will complete data analyses in every grade level as they monitor their own weather station and local water quality, such as in Long Island Sound and the Rippowam River, while also learning about local marine life. In order to prepare them to complete these projects, additional school time will be dedicated to student acquisition of higher-order mathematical skills in order to support student success in research-based instruction.

In the upper grades, students will continue to have unique opportunities to both consider their own role in the environment and to contribute to the environmental community in which they live. In grade 4, students will begin to study the relationship between science and ethics and the effects of people’s decisions on the world around them, particularly in regards to the establishment of a sustainable environment. Students in the 7^th and 8^th grades will begin to take on roles in Community Stewardship Projects at project sites throughout the city. Such projects might include organic and sustainable gardening, recycling, alternative energy development, and habitat restoration. These projects will culminate with student exhibitions of their research projects to faculty, parents, students, and community members in the eighth grade.

Staffing

In order to prepare teachers to successfully provide a project-based, environmentally-focused curriculum to their students, staff will participate in professional development in this area, both during the summer and the school year. Teachers at the school may have opportunities to participate in science-based externships at local environmentally-focused organizations and scientific corporations as well, so that teachers can offer their students the most up-to-date scientific training and preparation for future studies.

Schooling from Six-to-Six

As a school that will be open from 6 AM to 6 PM daily, students who choose to participate in the before- and after-school programming will have additional opportunities to engage in hands-on outdoor learning activities. Sports activities, such as hiking and biking, will be tied to students’ learning about nutrition and physical wellness. As the EMS has a green roof with garden plots for growing their own food, students will have the opportunity to construct and maintain gardens during the fall and spring, and to continue this work with the creation of their own terrariums during the colder months. Students will also have additional opportunities to learn with scientific instruments afterschool, such as with Texas Instruments Computer-Based Labs and other computer-based scientific probes. Opportunities for enrichment in core classes and specials (art and music) through clubs and tutoring will likely be available to students during the before- and after-school hours as well.