Mission Statement

Community Charter School is a non traditional project based learning school whose classroom is the community. We are a committed partnership of families, teachers, and community resources who work together to develop independent learners and thinkers.  At Community Charter School every child’s individuality is respected and nurtured.” 

Educational Philosophy

At Community Charter School, we view students as individuals.  We do not believe in a “one size fits all” approach to learning.  Because of this belief, we utilize various instructional methods in order to expose them to all the multiple intelligences in hopes of instilling a passion for learning.  Below are the various methods we incorporate each day into the instruction.

Project Based Learning

Project Based Learning is the use of classroom projects, intended to bring about deep learning, where students use projects and inquiry to engage with issues and questions that are relevant to their lives. These classroom projects are used to assess student's subject matter competence compared to traditional testing.

Project Based Learning is an approach for classroom activity that emphasizes learning activities that are long-term, interdisciplinary and student-centered. This approach is generally less structured than traditional, teacher-led classroom activities; in a project-based class, students often must organize their own work and manage their own time. Within the project based learning framework students collaborate, working together to make sense of what is going on. Project-based instruction differs from inquiry-based activity by its emphasis on collaborative learning. Additionally, project-based instruction differs from traditional inquiry by its emphasis on students' own artifact construction to represent what is being learned.

At CCS, we use projects throughout the school year to cover various state content standards.  Within these projects we incorporate the arts.  Whether it is incorporating music into a documentary or incorporating drama into the creation of an opera, these end projects cover multiple objectives while making it relevant to the students. 

Multi-grade Open Classrooms

Multi-grade classrooms support the social and emotional development of students. Behavior problems are minimized because older children know the rules and can model for younger children. Children learn to get along with others of various ages.

Research shows that multi-grade classrooms also support children’s academic development. The wide range of skills and abilities in a multi-grade classroom necessitates a more individualized approach to education. The curriculum is open-ended and adaptable. Children develop skills according to their own pace and timing. Each child learns without comparing themselves to other students of their own age.  Students can also tutor each other and thus reinforce the skills they have learned building better competence and demonstrate leadership. 

Reading may be taught in different groups. Writing is usually taught to the whole class at once, with different expectations for different ages. For instance, everyone may write on the same topic, with 1st graders writing a few words or sentences and drawing a picture, while 3rd graders write a paragraph or two.

Math is the only class taught by grade level at CCS because skills must be taught more sequentially than other subjects. Teachers choose programs that can work for a variety of skill levels.

Our classrooms have planned settings where children come in contact with things, books, and one another at interest centers and learned at their own pace with the help of the teacher. Teachers structured the classroom and activities for individual students and small work groups. They helped students negotiate each of the reading, math, science, art, and other interest centers on the principle that children learn best when they are interested and see the importance of what they are doing.  Children move in and about the classroom constantly with teachers acting more as coaches in helping students than as bosses directing children in every activity.

Arts Integration
According to Arts Integration Assessor, Elda Franklin, “Authentic arts integration occurs when there is a natural connection between an arts area and another discipline, either through common concepts, processes or principals, or through large over arching ideas or themes.  For example, the organizing principal of repetition and contrast is found in all arts areas as well as in poetry; conflict and resolution is an organizing principal of literature that might be compared to tension and release in music and/or dance.  Some big ideas that could encompass several disciplines include balance, communication, community, diversity, nature, and transformation.”

Community Charter School utilizes arts integration.  At Community Charter School we believe that incorporating arts is crucial to developing a well rounded student.  Because of this, we have a full time music teacher and a full time art/drama teacher.  These teachers spend half of their time working in the classrooms co-teaching and implementing arts integration into the project based learning activities.  An example of this is when teachers trained with Opera Carolina.  They learned how to create and produce an opera as a class.  The teachers then worked in collaboration with the music and art/drama teacher co-teaching the students.  Students wrote, composed music, did the set production, and all the other elements of an opera.  By doing this, they were able to incorporate various standards from the standard course of study into their instruction.  

Interdisciplinary Instruction

In line with the arts integration model, Community Charter School utilizes an interdisciplinary approach.  Interdisciplinary learning emphasizes and allows students to seek and discover existing connections between and among academic disciplines.  Teachers utilize curriculum mapping at each trimester which focuses on a central theme, essential questions, and incorporates objectives in all academic disciplines.  Teachers utilize the arts integration model in their curriculum mapping and the music and art/drama teacher assist the teacher teams in implementing arts integration activities that go along with their central theme.

Emergent Learning

At CCS, we believe that learning happens through a process.  We pose questions to students and they work through it.  Teachers and students are co-learners.  The approach is cooperative, where students and teachers shape the classroom.  Teachers pursue a set of curricular ideas and questions with students by engaging in conversation and negotiation.  An example of this would be students expressing an interest in pirates.  The teacher then incorporates the theme of pirates into the instruction and ties it to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.  Teachers and students together shape the classroom environment.  Teachers must balance students’ interests and purposes with curriculum requirements set by DPI through the standard course of study.

Learning Centers/Learning Stations/Think Shop

A learning center is a place or an activity in the classroom where the students explore the skills and content identified by both teachers and students.  Teachers have at least one hour of center time per day with at least four centers at one time. Teachers incorporate the multiple intelligences into the centers.  Centers allow for exploration and higher level thinking skills, versus sit and fill worksheets.

Community Based Learning
At CCS the Community is our classroom and as such the children at CCS travel by public bus (our children really enjoy this) to various different activities around Charlotte.  Some of these are scheduled on a weekly or bi-weekly basis; but, often we are presented with opportunities to attend productions on a last minute notice. 

CCS does not have a library on site; but, we use fortunate enough to be able to let our imaginations take us away at the library facilities at Imaginon on a bi-weekly schedule. 

CCS began an edible garden, “The Friendship Garden,” in 2008.  The project is inspired by the “Edible Garden” project in California.  Students dug plots, planted throughout the school year, utilized their plants to make various dishes, studied science, held farmers markets at the school, and more.  This project allows our teachers unlimited opportunities to teach our children about plant growth, the environment, nutrition, patience, team work, topics are limitless.

Our many residencies, conducted throughout the school year, allow our children to engage artist’s in their medium.  The scope of these residencies is vast.  They include, but are not limited to: music, drama, art, and dance. 

We also utilize the community as a resource at least twice monthly.  Classrooms have at least one community service project per year.