Videos

Welcome to Discovery Charter School

Added Jun 15, 2017 •

Copy this URL:
Embed code:	<iframe class="edlio-embed-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="360" src="//www.discoverycs.org/apps/embed/?v=150411" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Change dimensions

Show Transcript

[Kamani:] Welcome to Discovery Charter School! [Ms. Hall:] When you walk in the door, you see that something different is happening here. [Ms. Williams:] Poetry by Amiri Baraka, someone who was highly respected in the city of Newark - We designed baseballs...we’re learning about Black history in New Jersey. [Mr. Pierantoni]: Before any learning can take place, it has to be safe. So we create a very safe, welcoming environment. The colors and the design of it look very inviting for students. [Ms. Hall:] It is an open-room schoolhouse concept. [Noweara:] A class here, a class there, a class everywhere. [Kamani:] At Discovery, it goes 4th to 8th grade. [Noweara:] Everyone's going to be in kind of mixed group; you can teach younger students and you can also learn from older students. [Kamani: ] This is Ms. Rogers’ classroom, English Language Arts. [Ms. Rogers:] The older students model for the younger students what hard work looks like, what struggle looks like, what success looks like. [Mr. Cretinon:] We’re not here to feed the kids knowledge with a teaspoon. We want them to uncover things. [Mr. Kabbani:] Students learn more and they retain more when they are doing more of the work. [Kamani:] This is a Social Studies class. That’s Mr. Pierantoni. Mr. Pierantoni is the Social Studies teacher. [Mr. Pierantoni:] I welcome the contributions by the different grade levels because they just see things differently based on the age that they're at and their development from 4th to 8th grade. [Mr. Cretinon:] We have two rules: don’t speak at the same time as someone else and don’t just get up out of a seat and go anywhere without asking us. [Ms. Hall:] When you put in those kind of common sense manners it automatically sets up a respectful space. [Mr. Cretinon:] It’s pleasant to have manners, that’s all. [Joanne:] So you always hear « Thank you » and they make sure to let you know you have to say that, because - - it’s nice. [Kamani:] This is Mr. Kruvant. Mr. Kruvant’s the writing teacher So he’ll teach us how to write poems and stories and essays. [Ms. Rogers:] It’s a school that allows a lot of faculty autonomy, in terms of curriculum. I get to go home and think about, « How do I want to approach this? » [Noweara:] Teachers can kind of pick the way they want to teach the class, the way they know best will help the kid learn. [Kamani:] This is the science area. Ms. Heucke’s the Science teacher, and she’s also my homeroom teacher. This is the Math room. Mister Kabbani and Ms. Brockville will teach the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in this classroom. [Mr. Kabbani]:Math really builds off of what you need to to learn from 4th grade in order to do something in 5th grade, and what you learn in 5th grade you need to apply in 6th grade, and so on. Because of that, we do have students mostly within their same age groups. [Ms. Brachfeld:] If you plan it right, then while one grade is working on an exploration, you can go to the other grade and work with them and launch them into an exploration of their own. [Mr. Pierantoni:] We let the students take the teachers in directions that best fit their needs and their backgrounds and their life experiences. Because in the end, we want the students to own what they learn, and the best way to own what you learn is to actually participate in what you’re learning about. [Kamani:] This is only for the 5th graders, Ms. Myles she teaches the 5th graders math. [Ms. Myles:] If you are not feeling well one day, or if something’s happening at home, you’re not going to be receptive to the learning, and that becomes our problem. We’re with these children for eight to nine hours a day. They become family to us. [Aude:] I do feel like it’s a family here. It’s a place where you could tell people your ideas without having to worry about them laughing at you. [Mr. Pierantoni:] Getting the students to understand why they need to not snicker at somebody else, not laugh at at another student’s answer, and respecting each other - it’s not about the rules, it’s about the relationships. [Ms. Myles:] There’s always this open-door policy at Discovery. If something’s troubling you, we tell our students, « Feel free to come to us.’ [Moustapha:] When there’s stuff happening at home they actually care. [Ms. Williams:] It’s about understanding their culture and helping them to grow, right, to thrive. [Ms. Hanson:] Being here with the kids, you get to see their gifts, and there’s room for that. [Mr. Cretinon:] We care for each other in more ways than just teaching classes. [Mr. Kabbani:] You can see this school as a community as a community, And you can see the school as a learning institution, and the two are not mutually exclusive. [Ms. Johnson:] What I admire about here is that they will text you if he's not doing the homework, or didn't turn the homework in, or not doing the classwork. So, great communication. [Ms. Manning:] Discovery has been rewarding for my children and it helps them to advance in society as well as academically. [Ms.  Hanson:] The kids are the focus; every part of them is being nurtured, not just their academics, but their whole well-being. [Ms. Hall:] This little society is something that kids need to learn how to be in. Everything is with an eye toward helping them succeed once they walk out that door. [Kamani:] This is Ms. Hanson. Ms. Hanson helps Ms. Grier. [Ms. Grier:] I’m nervous! I’m the « mom » of the school, so the children are comfortable with coming to me to talk about a lot of things, things that’s bothering them, or if they just want someone to listen. [Osasanaga:] They know you as if they know their own relatives. [Ms. Grier:] It’s a lot to discover, at Discovery Charter School. Yeah.