Cambridgeport: Nurturing Individuals, Creating Community
Welcome to Cambridgeport, where connectedness and community are key
to the fabric of our school. I wanted to take a moment and share with
you our school’s core values, as they are at the heart of our approach
to teaching and learning.
Be Kind: Teaching
children to care about one another, to look out for one another, and to
think about the world beyond is a key component of the Cambridgeport
experience. Teaching content is not enough, if children don’t care about
one another. Being kind goes beyond simply “not being mean”—it means
going out of your way to do something for another person.
Be Responsible: We
give children a lot of responsibility for their own learning at
Cambridgeport. And by the same token, we expect children to take a lot
of responsibility for their own learning. What does this mean in the
day-to-day reality? In a writing workshop, we ask children to generate
topics that excite them to write about. In math, when a child asks if
her work is good enough, we may turn the question around and ask a
student to think about whether she thinks it’s good enough. In
literature circles, we ask students to take on leadership roles in
guiding discussions. We believe in the power of children having
ownership over their learning.
Be Reflective: Reflecting
on our learning is a regular part of school for both kids and teachers
at Cambridgeport. At the end of a workshop period, we ask children to
talk about what they have learned, how they have grown, and how they
could get better. We involve children in their parent-teacher conference
(in 1st-5th grade) because we expect children to think about
themselves as learners, set goals for their work, and then be able to
look back on these goals and reflect on their progress. The culminating
project of this reflection is showcased in our annual portfolios, but
the truth is that this reflection is happening all year long, at many
different moments in the day, week, and year.
Aim High: We
encourage children to challenge themselves in everything they do. We
acknowledge that this looks different for each individual because we
each have our own growing edge. Whatever that growing edge is for an
individual, that is where we expect them to push themselves. For some,
that growing edge is more likely to be a social or emotional edge, and
for others it’s academic. We acknowledge that the work of school is
hard, and we encourage all children to find the joy in the hard work
they take on; to do more than they thought they could do, and be proud
of what they have accomplished in the end.
Genteen Lacet Jean-Michel