We have just moved to the enrolling students stage and have between 5 and 7 spaces for each grade so be sure to reserve your space now! Call the Headmaster, Janice Black at 843-800-0590 to schedule and enrollment appointment. You can also email her through Renaissance.Headmaster@gmail.com for an appointment. Take the opportunity to secure a space for your child or children now, since enrollment is first come first served. Scholarship and discounts available for qualified families (many have criteria other than just need based). I thought it might be nice to quickly review our journey to starting to date. While we haven’t named each blog or post with its link to a stage, now is the time to connect the two.
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In 2016, a survey by the Council for American Private Education indicated that millennial parents were strongly interested in private schools. Over 43% of Millennials indicated that, if finances and transportation were not an issue, they believed that a private school would provide the best education for their children and that is where they would enroll them. Current college freshmen are talking about the lack of a love for learning in their public school experience, noticing deficiencies in their educational background, and are planning to send their future kids to small private schools (See article at http://blog.cedarhillprep.com/millenials-prefer-small-private-schools-for-their-children ). Yes, you have to pay tuition at a private school; but Millennials more and more believe that the tuition fees are worth it given you can place your child in a culture that supports your values especially those related to developing a love for learning. Supporting engaged students who have a love for learning is a part of our world view here at The Renaissance Preparatory Academy. Check out our website, www.RenaissancePrepMB.org! In 2015, Michael Godsey wrote an article, “Why I am a public school teacher but a private school parent: It’s not selling out; it’s buying in.” He asserted that what You already pay for public school with your taxes and now that charter schools are around, you have variety of choice, right? So, why send your children to a private school like The Renaissance Preparatory Academy (TRPA) or even consider doing so? People have a variety of reasons. I will be sharing a series of reasons why offered by others and how we meet their needs here at The Renaissance Preparatory Academy. Check out these 3 reasons and see if any of them resonate with you! If you didn’t have a chance to swing by the open house on Thursday, take a minute and meet the start of our set of teachers and staff! These folks and other volunteers have been actively working hard to transform the classrooms into those ready for our school. I am very happy to welcome and introduce you to two of our new team members; Cheryl Cottingham and Margaret Donahoo. As I mentioned earlier, I was dismayed to find that “college prep” had taken on a lowest common denominator reputation in local high schools. This school takes a classical approach to this term! Our expectation of students is that they are capable of learning more, applying that learning, and reaching high quality standards. LEARNING MORE Part of learning more is accomplished through our longer school day, but truthfully, most of that learning will be of the social interaction variety during our social interaction labs (AKA recesses). Recesses, especially longer ones, help kids to get the blood flowing to their brains and the wiggles out of their system. We have a great playground facility and athletic field to use and we plan on using them! Recesses allow the children to be outside in the dappled sunlight and to experience a wide range of sensory input which is essential for enhancing creativity and curiosity. One of our developmental goals is to replace the FEAR of the UNKNOWN with ACTIVE CURIOSITY! Love this poster! (Click read more to see it.) As we begin our recruiting for student enrollment, it is important to point out that some parts of our school are explicitly included to help support the safety of our students. For example, the only unlocked door on the building is the front lobby door and the lobby will be staffed with a volunteer receptionist (parent and grandparent volunteers are welcome!). Another example is that of the student uniform. The first reason for the uniform is that of safety. We can spot our students at a glance! Check out more about our uniforms on our page: http://www.renaissanceprepmb.org/uniform.html.
I look back on my last posting and it is hard to believe that a month has passed. I have been busy negotiating for space, finishing up the term at the university where I teach, and interviewing faculty. Time flew! As I have been talking with teachers, I have enjoyed very positive feedback on the goals of the school and its philosophy. A tough part is describing our students. For obvious reasons, this is important to prospective faculty. Although the school is geared to have the most supportive environment for learning for students, it is not a public school with a mandate to admit everybody and anybody. We are small and private. We will admit anybody whose values align with our honor code and who, in our professional opinion, can flourish in our school. I shared what I was thinking about our prospective students last time. I recently came across this version of attempting to clarify if this school is right for a child and family. I think that I have been very consistent. Basically, if you agree with our teaching philosophy, our more rigorous curriculum, our Honor Code, and are willing to pay (with or without scholarships and discounts), as long as we have a seat, we are willing to try and help your child learn. We won't admit a child if we don't think we can help her or him. If it isn't working, we'll let you know as soon as possible. So check out my thought on our student body. From my earlier posts, you can see that we start this school in reaction to the restriction of learning, the clipping the wings of our children, in opposition to the standardization of learning found in other settings. We admit to our school, children who have the potential to become students who actively pursue learning, who can learn to fly and soar! As I have been talking with teachers, I have enjoyed very positive feedback on the goals of the school and its philosophy. A tough part is describing our students. For obvious reasons, this is important to prospective faculty. Although the school is geared to have the most supportive environment for learning for students, we are not a public school! We are small and private. We will admit anybody whose values align with our honor code and, in our professional opinion, those who can flourish in our school with its rigorous and advanced curriculum and independent learning structure. Some times you feel like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz traipsing through the forest crying out; "Lions, Tigers & Bears, OH, MY!". Well that is my general feeling about finding a specific location for the school! "Location, Location, Location, OH, MY!" happening! Part of the problem was that much of the information about school facilities was geared towards a public school set up with large numbers of students. We were not planning this type of a school. A small private school that expanded over the years was our goal. Not quite the one room classroom school house of years past… but that general idea.
As most college faculty in business know, once something has become a competition point, it either is eroded to a commodity (i.e. everybody offers it, does it, and it is no longer a unique feature) or everybody’s standards raise with the end result being that something is no longer a unique feature. I wouldn’t mind either IF the standards are actually kept at the level originally established when it comes to college preparatory curriculum. That is not supported with my experience of incoming students over the last 5 or more years in higher education. quietly informed me that “college prep” was the lowest level of education in the high school where her children attend. The ranking was, low to high, college prep, honors, and then AP.
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