About EVCS

From East Village Community School

1 About the East Village Community School
2 Recently
3 EVCS Curriculum
4 EVCS Staff
5 Pre-Kindergarten
6 Kindergarten

[edit] About the East Village Community School

The East Village Community School was first established as a result of a grassroots community effort of neighborhood parents who sought an alternative public school for their children similar to successful alternative schools in other areas. From its inception in 1987, the school has committed that it would embody three essential elements:

A child-centered, integrated, academic, and experience based curriculum
A school that reflects the racial and ethnic diversity of the community and fosters understanding and cooperation among all groups.
An inclusive democratic school that is run collaboratively among staff and parents.

The East Village Community School is a community of learners that embrace possibilities and the "what if." As new people enter our space and as old problems are solved and new ones appear, we must reflect, name the obstacles, and take action.

[edit] Recently

This past year EVCS was invited to join the "empowerment zone". This zone has been created to give individual schools greater autonomy in how they shape curriculum, spend budget money, and govern themselves. For more information on the empowerment zone visit www.nycenet.edu or www.insideschools.org.

For many years, EVCS has embraced a system of looking at learning differences in children known as “schools attuned”. Schools attuned was developed by a pediatrician and neurodevelopmentalist named Mel Levine, who has written several best-selling books about how children learn, and many of our teachers have been trained in this system at the bank street college of education. In the past three years, the Dept. of Education has begun supporting “schools attuned” work in some city schools. We are honored that EVCS has been designated as a “schools attuned focus school” for the coming year, which means our staff will work closely with mentors who specialize in identifying children’s developmental profiles and helping kids, families and teachers address learning strengths and vulnerabilities in our students.

This is a wonderful opportunity for everyone in our school to learn more about how growing brains work and for families to support their children’s success. Stay tuned for workshops and other events at EVCS. For further information on schools attuned and Dr. Mel Levine, visit www.allkindsofminds.org.

[edit] EVCS Curriculum

The school members view the classroom curriculum as an on-going, ever changing, student driven continuum. Teachers design curriculum and implement curriculum with input from staff, parents, and students. There is an emphasis on helping children develop their own voice and use their power to be responsible, intelligent, caring and articulate citizens. Academically, children learn through thematic, in-depth studies, a comprehensive whole language approach to literacy, constructivist-based math, inquiry-based science study, community research, and a project approach to the arts. Principles that guide curriculum design and development are:

An integrated curriculum, which teaches children how to learn; personally constructing knowledge.
A learner-center, project-based curriculum which integrates classroom studies around developmentally appropriate themes of inquiry.
An approach to the arts which views them as an essential and an integral part to children's learning process and central to education. Children are given many opportunities explore, to describe and to explain their learning through the use of artwork, body movement, role play, music, film, writings, visual arts, computer and other mediums.
A multicultural education which helps children appreciate diversity and develop understanding regarding issues such as racism, prejudice, and gender bias attitudes;
A social action curriculum which develops children's critical perspective as well as offering students practice in democracy.
A commitment to using the city as a learning resource;
Performance based assessment strategies, which support individual growth by building on children's strengths and interests.