Paying it Forward: It’s all about the children.

Hi Nicki, 

On behalf of our team, I want to express deep appreciation for your time and all of the effort that went into hosting us yesterday. Please share with your team that we were inspired and empowered by them. They are phenomenal. And the kids?! Wow! They're incredible. Your school is a gift to be in and experience. Thank you for giving us that gift. 

Here are a few highlights we took back to enhance our journey to PCBL for Early Light as a result of our visit:

Dana (K-9 Curriculum Dir) - "The reassurance that this was a process and it wasn't done overnight gave me more clarity as to our path forward." 

Anna (K-9 Assessment and Literacy Dir) - "This is about changing the conversation around learning, The mindset. Students are having conversations around, "I need to learn this" instead of, "how do I get the A?" This is a more empowering way of learning." 

Darci (Jr High Principal) - "Seeing students actively engaged in their own learning and owning their progress inspired me to do the work that is necessary to make this change." 

Mikayla (Jr High ELA teacher) - "The culture is so obviously valued by both staff and students. Seeing every student be able to recognize their learning style/needs and teachers being able to accommodate that style just further demonstrated how integral this system is."

Amanda (Jr High math teacher) - "I was so impressed by how all the students knew the expectations. They were all engaged and responsible for their own learning. Those work habits will take those kiddos so far in life!"

Keith (K-9 Math Coordinator) - "I loved the student ownership of their learning and how that freed up the teacher to give more individual/small group help to the students who needed additional attention." 

David (Jr High science teacher) - "It was pretty mind blowing seeing the ownership and awareness students had of the learning process. It's a total culture change in a lot of ways, expectations for students, expectations for teachers(!), and so many things surrounding PCBL that they did consistently across the team (for example the noise level numbers). I am really excited about doing it, but it's a BIG deal both in a great way and a challenging way." 

Steph (K-9 Exec Dir) - "I loved the clarity that EVERYONE on campus seems to have about WHY they're at school, the VALUE that it creates for them, and HOW to get to where they want to be. Very Inspiring! It's so exciting as an educator to see this!"

Thanks again Nicki for creating a powerful experience for our team. Thanks for the book too! We'll purchase those for a book study! We would LOVE to bring teams in content area cohorts to shadow your teachers in the near future. I will be in touch to schedule those! I appreciate you kindly offering that. 

Stephanie

Executive Director

Early Light Academy