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To be called Explorations Academy for kids in grades pre-kindergarten through grade eight, the Lewis & Clark Institute’s new school will be
a world-class, national prototype
that stresses hands-on, interactive learning,
that is heavily supported by technology, and
that is wrapped in a mantle of the performing arts, particularly music.
The fundamental mission of The Lewis & Clark Institute’s new school is wide-ranging, but very focused:
- to provide pre-K through Grade 8 children with a rich knowledge base that
supports critical thinking and sound problem-solving, enabling the
students to attain academic success;
- to foster in each student a compassionate understanding of and respect
for the diverse gifts, abilities, and talents in one another and throughout
the global community of people;
- to facilitate in students the development of academic discipline essential
to making critical and effective choices;
- to inspire in the children a sense of wonder and joy in their discoveries as
explorers and learners;
- to promote in students a sense of personal responsibility and concern for
their families, communities, and the world beyond;
- to provide the children with an array of technological media and appropriate
skills to participate in dialogue within and beyond the classroom; and
- to integrate the arts and sciences across the curricula, connecting students
to, and anchoring them within, their histories and traditions.
The Lewis & Clark Institute (LCI) is a not-for-profit educational services company that wants to make education more exciting, substantive, and worthwhile for kids! Best known for its tutoring, study skills/organizational skills classes, and summer enrichment programs (i.e., The Lewis & Clark Summer Institute at Webster University), LCI has been educating kids since 1983, and is now preparing to open a unique school in the St. Louis area. Planning to welcome its first class to the new school in August of 2007, LCI’s Explorations Academy is intended to be a world-class, national prototype that stresses hands-on, experiential learning to complement the wonderful, classical components of American education that have made it so successful for almost four hundred years. LCI wants to instill in kids a love of reading and literature, a thorough understanding of math and science, and a deep appreciation of the arts and music.
What will make the Explorations Academy unique will be its extensive use of computers and their related technologies as one of the primary instruments of instruction. Every classroom will have at least one computer for every two children. All computers in the school will be wirelessly networked and all will have Internet capabilities. The telecommunication functions of these computers will allow LCI students to access information from databases and libraries throughout the nation and will enable these same children to communicate directly with other students across the state, across the country, and across the planet. This kind of interaction will be a significant part of the regular curriculum. Every child in the school (third grade through eighth grade) will have a laptop computer or a personal digital assistant (e.g., a Palm Pilot). In addition, because of its location near the finest cultural centers in St. Louis, LCI’s new school will be able to offer a fine arts component in music and performing arts that will be outstanding.
LCI will be home for kids in grades pre-K through 8, and will be a school known for the diversity of its students, its faculty, and its school community. It will have kids from many ethnic backgrounds, as well as kids with a multiplicity of skills and abilities. A major focus will be to have the faculty integrate into the curriculum the educational philosophies of Carol Ann Tomlinson, who calls for every classroom to be a differentiated classroom wherein teachers do all that they can to make certain that "struggling and advanced learners, students with varied cultural heritages, and children with different background experiences all grow as much as they possibly can each day, each week, and throughout the year."
The children in the LCI community will, one day, help lead a nation. LCI graduates will be well on their way to becoming competent, informed adults because of the world-class educational opportunities offered to them by The Lewis & Clark Institute. The more specific delineation of that curriculum can be found in the LCI Business Plan. But just to give one a taste of the curricular offerings, a sample of the science curriculum is included by following the links below:
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