Parent Partnership

Chatfield School is a partnership that assigns a role to all staff, volunteers, parents, and children.  Chatfield School Partners must be knowledgeable of the school philosophy and committed to fulfilling their individual roles.  Chatfield Partners, recognizing and respecting each Partner's role, believe they are one team with one purpose.  All partners are to assist in informing the community about the Charter School, and to assist in recruiting community support for the school's activities.  Partners will assist in recruiting, welcoming, and training parent and community mentors to work with the children.

Students As Partners

Children are Chatfield Partners and have specific roles to fulfill.  Each child, as he or she matures and learns, is expected to become increasingly involved in planning goals, assessing progress, and accepting responsibility for his or her progress toward the educational goals.  As the child matures, he or she is responsible foe developing the values, the enthusiasm for learning and the skills necessary for being a self-motivated, productive citizen.  Lastly, each child Partner is to become, to the degree possible a teacher partner to his or her fellow students.

The Adult Partners at the Chatfield School must make developing the student's role as a Partner their primary responsibility.  Adult Partners assist students in identifying their strengths and interests, and developing their goals.  By their own behavior the adult Partners are to be the models for the children who are seeking to grow intellectually, morally, and socially.

Parents As Partners

Parents are expected to be Partners and pursue their roles in the school and for their own child.  There are no specific requirements, but Parent Partners must recognize that the expectations for the school and their child cannot be fulfilled without their commitment to being a Partner.  In addition to the expectations for all Partners, Parent Partners are expected to pursue the following through involvement of the school and at home:

• Attend Chatfield School workshops and informational programs that are intended to help parents to understand the curriculum, instructional practices, and philosophy of the school.
• Participate in visits to or studies of exceptional school programs that may be offered.
• Attend the scheduled Parent-Teacher Conferences and the School Improvement Committee meetings.
• Complete classroom observations as necessary to be fully aware of the school's program and their child's progress.
• Meet with Staff Partners as necessary to monitor and support their child's progress.
• Maintain a study area in the home and equip and arrange it so their child's attention is concentrated on study.
• Establish a family quiet hour in the home to minimize disruptions to study.
• Provide intellectual stimulation in the home by encouraging reading, controlling television use, and participating in intellectually stimulating activities.
• Model the use of the quiet hour for suitable activities and engage in activities similar to those being expected of their child.
• Establish standards and responsibilities so that their child learns that he/she must complete tasks satisfactorily.

Staff and Volunteer Adults As Partners

Teacher is a generic term which encompasses all of the adults working and volunteering at Chatfield School.  Every adult is expected to be a role model for the children.  Being a staff member or volunteer requires modeling behaviors that demonstrate and reinforce the educational goals expected for the students at Chatfield.  Staff and Adult Partners practice the etiquette, use the listening and speaking skills, demonstrate the responsible behavior, and espouse the values which are related in the educational goals and the school's mission.

The concept of all adults being teachers is not confusing to children, and in fact, this reinforces values and behaviors students are to develop.  Children and all adults will be expected to identify and respect individuals, to learn the names of people and to use names , not simply titles.  This emphasis will reinforce for children the value of seeing adults as persons to learn from.  A frequent topic of Partner School Improvement Sessions must be "what we as adult Partner-teachers can do by our behavior and our responses, not by formal lessons, to teach our students.

The role of Teacher Partners, Assistant Teacher Partners, and Directors is to be fully knowledgeable of and willing to commit to the Chatfield School philosophy.  Each must be interested in working as a member of an instructional team, not as an isolated teacher with responsibilities to only a limited number of students.  Classroom teachers must be committed to developing a partner relationship with parents.

The role of the Staff Partners includes:  1) developing learning plans, based on valid assessments and data, for each student in the classroom group assigned; do daily monitoring of the individuals in the classroom group; conduct the instructional activities to be completed within the classroom group;  2) scheduling and being available for Parent Partner Conferencing; and  3) being a mentor to new or inexperienced teachers.

Teacher Assistants will be expected to monitor students, assist students in their individual or group work, conduct tutorial sessions, and correct and review student work.  Assistants will be expected to participate in instructional planning and in evaluating individual student progress.

Partner Volunteers are an integral part of the Chatfield School.  Volunteers, however, except in the Extended Day Activities do not have instructional responsibilities and are not assigned to essential tasks except on an emergency basis.  Volunteers are primarily to enhance the Chatfield School program.  Volunteers support the program by observation, by involvement, and as role models.