Nestled amongst the sweet smelling pines and rolling hills of Western North Carolina is a place where students cultivate a rain garden — to learn not only about nature, but also the intricate system of hydrologic action of the plants that ultimately produces cleaner rainwater runoff.
In the classroom, students sit at tables, in beanbag chairs, on the rug or under tables to read their books.
The teachers call it learning; the kids think it’s a grand adventure.
Welcome to Evergreen Community Charter School, a successful educational program located in the Haw Creek community in Asheville.
The idyllic and spacious 10-acre rural campus is the perfect backdrop for more than 400 children, grades kindergarten through 8th grade, who are encouraged to use their five senses to learn.
Best of all, everyone is required to take daily recess breaks.
The rigorous curriculum has steadily evolved over the past 11 years, entwining both environmental and character education. Students are expected to become actively involved in the learning process. It’s not surprising to find children rock climbing, skiing, snowboarding, or looking for birds on the top of a mountain during the regular course of the school day.
“Parents see it as a dedication to balancing,” said Associate Director Anne Vilen. “We see kids in a holistic way. We believe in effective and efficient teaching. We prepare our students to become lifelong learners.”
The curriculum is specifically designed to help students think creatively and each expedition fully integrates all subject areas.
“We really strive to push kids out of their comfort zone,” said Executive Director Susan Gottfried. “We want them to see life from a different perspective. Our focus, our emphasis is on authentic learning. We push our curriculum in innovative ways, all the time.”
Vilen’s son Zak, a gifted seventh grader who has attended the school for four years, said he will never forget the expedition his class took last year to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.
“We went really deep,” he said. “I found out about some things I would have rather not known, but it allowed me to recognize what happened, how it happened and why it happened. It gave me a perspective I would not otherwise have.”
Class sizes are also small and informal, providing the opportunity for students to get to know their teachers on a first-name basis.
Zak said he’s been most appreciative of the honest interaction with his instructors.
“We get to know a lot of them,” he said. “We become friends with them and get to know their character.”
The result is the children are engaged in their activities and studies, continually learning beyond their school borders and excelling on annual yearly progress tests.
As if that weren’t enough, the school prides itself in being an environmentally friendly, “green” campus. Each week they ask the children to bring waste-free lunches. Students sift through the refuse to find reusable items. The school also uses biodiesel buses for their transportation needs.
One of the secrets to this unique public school’s success is the network of parents and guardians that willingly help out at the school.
“We rely on parent volunteers a lot,” Gottfried said. “They are required to work two hours a month per parent.”
Vilen said the school doesn’t have a PTA but relies on a variety of committees in which the adults serve.
“We are task-oriented instead of complaint-oriented,” she said. “Our ethic, across the board, is ‘if you see a problem, fix it.’ The school revolves around solutions. We are invested in that philosophy.”
Although educators throughout the state would like to replicate successful learning programs like those offered by Evergreen and other charters, state legislators are still blocking efforts to make that happen.
State law currently imposes a cap of 100 on the number of charter schools in North Carolina. Gottfried and her staff would like to see that change. This would not only allow more creative schools to open in the state, but it would help North Carolina to qualify for millions of dollars through the federal “Race to the Top” education grants.
Vilen said the cap can easily be removed while keeping accountability measures in place.
Roger Gerber, director of the League of Charter Schools in North Carolina, said it’s unfortunate that state legislators continue to place artificial limits on charter schools because it puts the state at a competitive disadvantage.
“President Obama is redrawing the education reform battle lines, but our legislators continue to reject lifting the cap,” he said. “They have even asked Obama to reconsider his support of charter schools. The Senate has always been the problem. They always block it.”
Gerber said it doesn’t help that Gov. Beverly Perdue doesn’t support Obama’s positive views on charter schools.
“She is not exactly enthralled with charter schools,” he said. “She never has been.”
For now, many children across the state will have to wait for school choice. Evergreen Community Charter School continues to do what it can to meet the needs in their community; however, they have to turn away 10 students for every child they accept.
“It’s kind of depressing,” Gerber said.
Karen Welsh is a contributor to Carolina Journal.