Philosophy
At Corvian Community School, our goal is to create an innovative, inspiring school to serve families in our community. We are concerned with the total development of each student and believe that it is our responsibility to address the cognitive, social, emotional and physical development of all of our students throughout each school day. This holistic approach to educating our students is designed to help them develop into healthy and well-rounded individuals who enjoy life and learning.
Mission
Corvian Community School believes that every student can and will succeed in ways that reflect his or her own aptitudes and interests. Our mission is to use the principles of The Basic School to provide an optimum environment for learning in which:
- Teachers and parents work together to create an inclusive community of learning.
- Students are intrinsically motivated as lifelong learners through hands-on teaching, integrated curriculum and real life learning with meaningful community connections.
- Students are encouraged to develop healthy lifestyle practices for social, emotional and physical health
- Teachers are empowered and encouraged to teach to the needs of each individual student
Hands-On Learning
At Corvian Community School, we believe that students learn best when they gain knowledge through exploration and active learning. We do not rely on textbooks and lectures to teach content. We engage students in meaningful, hands-on, real-life experiences that challenge them to think and explain their reasoning instead of memorizing and reciting facts. Hands-on learning allows students to make connections among and between the different disciplines, thereby enabling them to formulate deep, conceptual understandings of over-arching themes and concepts within our world. As a result of this type of learning, passions will be ignited and student motivation soars. Students fulfill their brain's innate desire to make meaning of information, while also learning how to think critically about the learning process, as well as the experiences.
Advisory
A group of 12-15 students and a middle school teacher will be a part of an advisory group that meets weekly during the middle school years. During Advisory, the teacher will lead students in discussions and activities to build a relationship of trust with a mentor and a network of peers. The Advisor will serve as a guardian at school and will keep abreast of each advisee’s academic performance and emotional and physical development. Some of the activities that will be included in advisory are those that focus on self-discovery, team building, service learning, wellness, and career planning.
Content Areas
The Common Core Standards adopted by the state of North Carolina drive the instructional decisions in Social Studies and Language Arts, Science, and Math. Please see subheadings for detailed curriculum in these areas by grade.
Arts Education
Art education is not an optional subject area. All students will take one or more arts classes each year in middle school. These courses are designed to help students identify their artistic passions.. Art education courses in middle school may include: dance, art, crafts, band, chorus, woodworking, and drama.
Foreign Language
All middle school students at Corvian will take Spanish. Spanish courses in middle school will study culture, language, geography, history, literature and the arts.
Health And Wellness
The Middle School Health and Wellness program topics will be taught during Advisory through activities and discussions and in Physical Education classes. Topics like substance abuse prevention, refusal skills and problems solving, stress management, sexuality education, and understanding and avoiding risk-taking behaviors will be discussed more deeply within the small setting of the Advisory. The Physical Education goals will promote socialization, develop interest, and enrich student leisure time. The program will be designed to develop physical fitness through strength training, flexibility, cardio training, and endurance, providing the guiding principles that will lead students to become healthy adults. It will also guide the students to become physically active for a lifetime. Children that perform physical activity during the school day will be more alert, which will lead to increased attention span and concentration. Above all, by educating our children now on the importance of life-long fitness, we can prevent obesity and illnesses such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.