Mission & Vision

The school’s mission shall be:

• To provide children with the opportunity to discover and nurture their own passions, unique abilities, and their inner spirit;
• To preserve a child’s natural curiosity and cultivate a desire for lifelong learning;
• To empower children to develop into adults who think creatively, live authentically, and lead purpose-filled lives;
• To foster responsibility to self, community, and the natural world;
• And to practice love and respect for self and others.

THE BRILLIANT CHILD

We envision the school providing a solid academic understanding in the subjects of math, language arts, and science, among others, while honoring each child’s unique blend of intelligences (i.e.: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist and others).  Daily opportunities should be provided for children to cultivate creative expression, and integrate such expression into the learning of traditional academic material. We believe connection to the natural world cultivates learning from within, fosters whole child development, and reinforces care for self.  This connection will be facilitated by practicing environmental sustainability in all aspects of school life, creating hands-on learning opportunities within the natural world, and providing ample unstructured physical exercise and exploration in the outdoors.

THE HOLISTIC APPROACH

The vision of our school is to nurture the child’s mind, body, and spirit through incorporating innovative holistic approaches to education.   Teachers should embrace the concept that each student has an innate desire to learn about the world around them, that they learn in their own way, and that learning is organic and dynamic, and therefore flexibility and creativity are key.  Teachers should be free to apply principles of teaching and learning which are compatible with the growth and actualization needs of each learner.  We believe some of the holistic educational leaders whose techniques and practices support our mission include John Dewey, Rudolph Steiner (Waldorf), Maria Montessori, and Howard Gardner.

We believe children thrive in the intellectual and social diversity of multiage classrooms, where competition is reduced and collaborative learning is balanced with independent initiative. In this setting, every child can focus on his or her own individual path within a continuum. This in turn fosters responsibility to self and others. We believe that for educators to support the needs of individual learning styles and be familiar with the tools children will need as they grow in an ever-changing world, teachers will need to remain active learners themselves through study, workshops, and teacher exchange opportunities in other holistic schools.

THE COOPERATIVE COMMUNITY

The school should also play a critical role in the development of a child’s communication skills, empathy, conflict resolution, cooperation, and collaboration skills.  To help facilitate this, our school should model well-structured, consensus decision-making that involves parents, teachers and students.  We envision this school having parents & students working enthusiastically with teachers and administrators on many levels to advance the school’s mission, model desired student outcomes, and to create a climate of cooperation, innovation, and creativity. This would include regular participation of parents in support of the day-to-day curriculum, such as through project-based learning, organized community service and action, facilitating field trips, and creating opportunities for learning in the greater Brevard community.