“Vermont Commons School”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The Vermont Commons School is an independent college preparatory school located in South Burlington, Vermont, serving grades 6-12.

History

Vermont Commons School was founded in 1997. Its Founder and first Head of School was former Champlain College President Robert A. Skiff.^[1] During its first semester, 32 students were enrolled and the school grew steadily in size and offerings over the next ten years. In 2007, Dr. Skiff retired, at which point enrollment neared 100 students. Dr. Skiff was succeeded by Mr. Peter Ross, who served as Head of School through the fall of 2008. Upon Ross's departure, Science and Math teacher Hans Manske served as Acting Head while the Board of Trustees conducted a search for new leadership. In July 2009, the Board selected Mr. Peter Gilmore as their new Head of School. Mr. Gilmore had previously served as Principal of The Friends School of Baltimore, MD and Upper School Director at Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine. Mr. Gilmore left the school at the end of the 2013-14 school year, and was succeeded by Dr. Dexter Mahaffey.^[2]^[3]^[4] Dr. Mahaffey previously served as Director of Diversity and Global Studies at Kentucky Country Day School from 2007 to 2014, when he relocated to Vermont.^[5] In the 2016-2017 academic year the school celebrated its 20th year.

Organization

Mission

Campus

Since its founding in 1997, the campus has been located at 75 Green Mountain Drive in South Burlington in a building converted from an environmental testing and consulting firm, Aquatec. Re-purposing such a building was in keeping with the environmental stewardship mission of the school. The school purchased the building and property in the fall of 2010. Vermont Commons School underwent over $1,100,000 in renovations and expansion of the campus and facilities in the summer of 2015.^[6]

Grade Structure

Classes are taught by grade, with larger grades broken into smaller sections. Maximum class size is 18 students, with an average class size of 12 students.

Curriculum

Courses include Language Arts, Mathematics, Sciences, Social Studies, Fine Arts, Service Learning, and World Languages (Spanish and Chinese). The school offers advanced courses in Biology, Environmental Science, Spanish Language and Literature, and Calculus. The school considers its 'standard' rank classes to be on par with an Honors program in the public sector.^[7]

The school has gained recognition for its Research and Service community service program.^[8] In addition, Vermont Commons School offers 3 "Encounter Weeks" during the year. The faculty and students leave the confines of the school to dive deeply into a variety of experiences. These can range from snow-shoeing in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, to studying the Abrahamic religions in NYC, to doing service work with Habitat for Humanity in the 9th Ward in New Orleans, to studying tidal pool ecology in Acadia National Park.

Accreditation

Vermont Commons School is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)^[9] and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).^[10] It maintains "approved school" status^[11] through the State of Vermont and is a member of the Independent Schools Association of Northern New England (ISANNE),^[12] the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE), and the Vermont Independent Schools Association (VISA).^[13]

References

1. ^{{cite web|url=https://people.forbes.com/profile/robert-a-skiff/52767 |title=Robert A. Skiff profile |publisher=Forbes.com |accessdate=2012-02-24}}
2. ^{{cite web|url=http://vermontcommons.org/2014/03/vcs-announces-new-head-of-school-dexter-mahaffey-ph-d/|title=Vermont Commons School - College Preparatory School for Grades 6 to 12 - An Independent School in South Burlington, Vermont.|website=vermontcommons.org|access-date=2017-02-18}}
3. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.vtindependentschools.org/executive-committee.html|title=Executive Committee|website=Vermont Independent Schools Association|access-date=2017-02-18}}
4. ^{{cite web|url=https://vtdigger.org/2016/09/21/dexter-mahaffey-understanding-adolescent-brain/|title=Dexter Mahaffey: Understanding the adolescent brain|date=2016-09-21|website=VTDigger|access-date=2017-02-18}}
5. ^{{cite web|url=http://vermontcommons.org/our-people/administration/dexter-mahaffey/|title=Dexter Mahaffey - Vermont Commons School|publisher=}}
6. ^{{cite web|url=https://vtdigger.org/2015/08/26/vermont-commons-school-opens-with-new-arts-wing-physics-lab-classrooms/|title=Vermont Commons School opens with new arts wing, physics lab, classrooms|date=2015-08-26|website=VTDigger|access-date=2017-02-18}}
7. ^{{cite web|url=http://vermontcommons.org/wp-content/uploads/Course-Catalog.pdf |title=Course catalog |website=vermontcommons.org |format=PDF}}
8. ^VCS students connect Art, Alzheimers, StoryCorps {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716053856/http://www.shelburnenews.com/news/article/current/2010/11/23/101001/vcs-students-connect-art-alzheimers-storycorps |date=July 16, 2011 }}
9. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.nais.org/Pages/default.aspx|title=NAIS - National Association of Independent Schools|website=www.nais.org|language=en-us|access-date=2017-02-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025094107/http://www.nais.org/Pages/default.aspx|archive-date=2015-10-25|dead-url=yes|df=}}
10. ^{{Cite news|url=https://cis.neasc.org/cis-directory-of-schools/vermont-commons-school|title=Vermont Commons School|date=2016-12-21|newspaper=Independent, Non-Public K-12 Schools (CIS) / Commission on Independent Schools|access-date=2017-02-18|language=en}}
11. ^{{cite web|url=http://education.vermont.gov/vermont-schools/school-operations/independent-schools|title=Independent Schools {{!}} Agency of Education|website=education.vermont.gov|language=en|access-date=2017-02-18}}
12. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.isanne.org/schools|title=Schools {{!}} ISANNE - Independent Schools Association of Northern New England|website=www.isanne.org|language=en|access-date=2017-02-18}}
13. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.vtindependentschools.org/|title=Vermont Independent Schools Association|website=Vermont Independent Schools Association|access-date=2017-02-18}}