LCS Administrator's Blog

HIRING & ENROLLING

2010-06-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

We have spent the last three days interviewing prospective teachers. (ES's)

Wow have I been impressed with the group we have to choose from. I think parents are going to be extremely pleased. We are going to put out our yearly calender soon and Dr. Long is going to present our contract to the board this month for final ratification.

We are submitting an offer on a building and our first Open House is scheduled for Friday, June 18th 7:00 pm. at the Medford Public Library.

Hope to see you there.

Almost There!

2010-05-26T16:51:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to give you the most recent update concerning Logos Public Charter School.

We have successfully negotiated a contract with Medford Schools.

All that remains is for the board to sign on the dotted line at their next board meeting on the first of June.

Currently, we are looking at a building where we will reside. We are considering the building currently being used by the

Madrone Trail Charter School as they are moving to a new location.

We have over 40 applications that we are going over for Teachers which we will call Education Specialists (ES). If you know of

any prospective teachers with the minimum of a Bachelor degree, have them look at our ad on Craigslist. We are hiring both part time

and full time. At last count, our enrollment was at 147. The school district made us put a cap on enrollment at 300 so if you have not

pre-enrolled or you know of interested families please let them know.

We will be offering classes on site, and the classes we offer will be determined by what classes you are interested in as well as our desire

to have each of our teachers teach a class in their area of passion. There will be many other enrichment classes available to you and more

information on them in the days to come. After the MSD signs our contract, I will send out an e-mail to you of important dates including Open

Houses, start of school, etc.

We have finalized our allotment amounts to be made available to each student. For Kindergarten- $500

First - 8th grade will receive $750 and 9-12th graders $1,000. This is based on a student who is with us through the whole school year

and is pro-rated if you enter later in the year. Information will be provided in just exactly how this works at our first open house in June.

I will let you know the date soon as we are still securing a facility.

We are very excited and look forward to serving you in the very near future. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Meeting with School Board

2010-03-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

Our group met with the directors of the Medford School Board last night. They seem to have carefully gone over our application and each had a number of questions and concerns. Over the next couple of days, we are going to seek to answer each of their questions and respond to them accordingly. We are planning on having LCS on the agenda for an open session at the April 6th board meeting.

As you can all well imagine, Charter schools & home schools are a hot topic in education today and the board wants to be careful which is commendable and understandable. I wrote down a quote by Susan Castillo the Superintendent of public instruction for the state of Oregon delivered at the Charter School conference I attended recently. She said, "Innovation and new models always cause controversy." As an institution of education in Oregon, we desire to hold our students, staff, and families to high standards and we expect to be held to a high standard by others. We will be posting information concerning the open session on April 6 and how you can make your voice known in the next few days.

UPDATE

2010-02-23T12:45:00.000-08:00

We met with Medford School Reps and they are very encouraged about our school!

The meeting went exceptionally well! We are revising our application and planning to meet with the school board for approval in April.

I will be at the State Charter School Convention in Salem all week. Please e-mail me if you have any questions.

2010-02-16T13:45:00.000-08:00

THE SEVEN LAWS OF TEACHING

John Milton Gregory
Superintendent of Public Instruction
1859-1865

1. The Law of the Teacher

	Teachers must be fully equipped with the knowledge they wish to communicate
	Fresh study and preparation are keys to enriched teaching.

2. The Law of the Learner

	Student interest and attention must be generated by the teacher.
	A teacher's enthusiasm is contagious with students.

3. The Law of the Lesson

	Lessons are best begun with common and familiar experiences.
	Excellent teachers understand the background of their pupils and use it as a starting point.

4. The Law of the Language

	The words used by teachers must be easily understood by students.
	Illustrations, natural objects, and visual aids are important to good communication.

5. The Law of the Teaching Process

	Expert teachers arouse and direct self-activities by their students, thus stimulating them to learn for themselves.
	Student skills grow with practical exercises involving their minds.

6. The Law of the Learning Process

	Excellent education helps learners to be investigative discoverers.
	Real and valuable learning is more than memorization.

7. The Law of Review and Application

	Review perfects knowledge, confirms knowledge, arid makes knowledge ready and useful.
	Practical reviews are characteristic of excellent teachers.

How about Chinese?

2010-02-12T10:23:00.000-08:00

This is something that sounds like Logos Charter School (too good to be true.) When we receive our charter contract I am going to contact this group to see if this is an option for Logos Charter School. What do you think? Who wants to host the teacher?

http://www.dennisrichardson.org/lu111309.htm

I love this quote

2010-02-10T10:09:00.000-08:00

Is it just me, or do these words ring in your ears ?

What use is it to pile task on task and prolong the days of labour, if at the close the chief object is left unattained? It is not the fault of the teachers - they work only too hard already. The combined folly of a civilization that has forgotten its own roots is forcing them to shore up the tottering weight of an educational structure that is built upon sand. They are doing for their pupils the work which the pupils themselves ought to do. For the sole true end of education is simply this: to teach men how to learn for themselves; and whatever instruction fails to do this is effort spent in vain. - Dorothy Sayers

In Case you haven't seen this

2010-02-08T10:07:00.000-08:00

Many people will relate to this video.

Small class size

2010-02-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

Is there a bigger buzz word in all of education than small class size?

In college pamphlets and websites everywhere you can find the code: "15 to 1 student to teacher ratio." We all understand that to be an average as there are 120 in most freshman courses - especially at a public university.

I have actually had parents boast to me that there are ONLY 22 in their child's 3rd grade class. We don't have to think very long before two obvious questions arise. What about the advanced students who grasp the lesson or master the material? "We have them tutor the other students!" is often the reply. Then they make it sound like this is a great opportunity for the children who are doing the tutoring. Rather than moving on and excelling in the subject, the more advanced children become free tutors for the struggling students.

This brings up the second question. What about the students who are struggling? "They are being tutored by a peer." Is that what you want for your child? Tutoring from an eight-year-old who may or may not know what they are talking about?

Logos Charter School provides a teacher-student ratio of roughly two teachers for every three students depending on your family size. Qualified, adult instructors, (one of whom is the parent) as well as a full-time teacher meet with each family regularly to help, encourage, guide and provide whatever services the child needs. If the child masters a concept, he moves on to the next. If a child struggles in any area, the teacher can review and wait for the child to grasp what it is he needs to know. If the problem persists, the teacher from LCS can offer suggestions to the parent as well as professional tutoring options that may be as simple as new computer software or even an on-site class with a trained teacher.

LCS is a school for advanced students struggling students and LCS is a school for every student in between AND We have a student to teacher ratio that is unmatched anywhere.

The best of 3 worlds

2010-02-02T09:27:00.000-08:00

I have personally had a very broad experience with education. I have been homeschooled, attended both private and public school, homeschooled my own children, and even been a teacher and an administrator in private schools. What I have found is that there are difficulties with all these avenues of education. Here are a few:

1. Parent involvement - Schools everywhere bemoan the fact that too many parents are not involved in their child's education.

2. Money - Most people expect private schools to provide their child with everything the public school does and more. Schools create a huge dilemma the day they start as they do not charge each family what it costs to educate each child. This can cause private schools to allow students to enroll that the school and staff are not really suited to serve. It also creates the need to hire teachers they ideally would not - all due to a lack of funds.

3. Accountability - Many homeschoolers are doing a great job. Mom is organized and driven and dad supports mom. Homeschool groups abound and many resources are available. Many/some homeschool parents are insecure. They did not have a very good education themselves and they wonder if they can educate their children in spite of that.

These are three of the biggest obstacles that Logos Charter School seeks to overcome. Although we understand that parents are the primary agents of educating their child, we will provide funds to purchase educational supplies and resources. We will offer on-site classes for the subjects that are more challenging to do in home environment. We also will provide help and encouragement for parents as they develop a year-long program. LCS will support and motivate them along the way.

But what about all the government regulation?

2010-01-31T12:19:00.000-08:00

I have witnessed both ends of the spectrum in education. We have all known kids we felt sorry for because mom and dad were really dropping the ball with their 'homeschooling.' we have all shaken our head in confusion after seeing the 11th grade public school kid attempting to make change for us at the hardware counter. Perhaps you have wondered, as did C.S. Lewis,

“I wonder what they do teach them at these schools.”
Professor Kirke, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

The mission of LCS is to offer a performance and standards-based personalized learning program in Oregon supported by the principles of multiple intelligence, service learning and vocational readiness to students in grades K-12. LCS will provide academic excellence through an individualized education and promote a partnership between families, the community and public education.

We want to help you and your children get a great education.

That will not happen if their is not accountability somewhere and somehow.

Welcome

2010-01-29T11:03:00.000-08:00

It doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to figure out that the educational system in America is "in a tight spot" America consistently scores in the bottom of worldwide academic testing in Math & Science (although we score 1st in the question, "How well do you think you did on this test?")

Logos Charter School exists to help parents give their child the education they wished they would have gotten. This blog is an attempt to be a resource for parents. To encourage and maybe even enlighten.