John Dewey Academy of Learning
| John Dewey Academy of Learning | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
|
1420 Harvey Street Green Bay, Wisconsin United States | |
| Coordinates | 44°30′48″N 87°59′23″W / 44.5132°N 87.9896°WCoordinates: 44°30′48″N 87°59′23″W / 44.5132°N 87.9896°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Charter |
| Established | 2010 |
| School district | Green Bay Area Public Schools |
| Oversight | Governance Council & Green Bay Area Public Schools Board of Education |
| Administrator | Jen Agamaite |
| Faculty | 6 |
| Teaching staff | 6 |
| Grades | 8–12 |
| Enrollment | 59 (2014-15)[1] |
| Colour(s) | Lime Green, White, Purple, Black |
| Mascot | Dragon |
| Nickname | JDAL |
| Website | Official website |
The John Dewey Academy of Learning (JDAL) is a charter school of the Green Bay Area Public School District. It is the Green Bay Area Public School District's first and only charter school. The school's street address is 1420 Harvey Street, Green Bay, WI 54302.
Formation
John Dewey was formed by contract with the Green Bay Area Public School District. It operates on a five-year contractual term, the maximum allowed by Wisconsin state law. The next school year in which the contract will be again up for discussion is 2020-21.
Leadership
Unlike most schools, JDAL (John Dewey Academy of Learning) operates largely without a principal, relying mainly on the lead adviser Jen Agamaite (who is also the Green Bay Area Public School's Director of Charter Schools) and a parent and community Governance Council for leadership.
Education
Advisories
JDAL utilizes Project Based Learning, ALEKS (for mathematics), Achieve3000 (for Language Arts), and a series of seminars taught by community members, parents, students, and staff. JDAL differs in operation from what is commonly found in high schools within the United States, instead employing a classroom approach similar to an elementary or primary school, in which students remain in a single room for the majority of the school day. As of July, 2018 there are four of such classrooms, colloquially referred to as 'advisories'. Within each advisory, a staff member familiar with a subject, or a series of subjects is found. Students are assigned to the advisories with some degree of randomness, and generally remain within the same advisory until there senior year, at which point they move to an advisory dedicated entirely to seniors.
Seminars
As a conjunctive to projects, students often sign up for Seminars, a limited term engagement varying from a few weeks to an entire semester, these credit bearing classes offer students a wide variety of choices. Previously existing seminars are Practical Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Crime Scene Investigations, Branding and Marketing, Genocide, Human Sexuality and Development, among others. These courses are taught by existing staff, students, parents, and community members, under the supervision of one or more advisers.
Capstones
By Senior Year, students often have few credits left to earn before meeting the Board of Education's requirements for graduation. As such, seniors spend most of their time conducting a Capstone project which exists as a culmination of their learning, and typically involves over 500 hours of work. Capstone projects often have major effects on the school as a whole, and often impact the community in general.
Capstones of Note:
Tic Talk Time: A Short film about Tourrettes Syndrome
The Other Room: JDAL's 1st (and to date only) theater production of the play by the same name by Ariadne Blayde
Rape Culture in America: A major paper and seminar examining the Brock Turner Case
The Dewey Commission on Policy Review: A seminar through which students reviewed existing policies and procedures of the Green Bay Area Public Schools
Community Outreach
As a part of the curriculum of JDAL, students must attain a minimum of 150 service hours by graduation, and has several service learning campaigns throughout the school year. Some major campaigns are recurring, while others have since ended.
Teens for Jeans campaign
Beginning in 2013 and ending in 2016, a now graduated student led a school partnership with Dosomthing.org through which they collected jeans for homeless teens at various collection points throughout the city of Green Bay, including at the school, at the Downtown YWCA in Green Bay, and at the Kavarna Coffee House. In the three years the program operated, the school collected around 500 pairs of jeans. In 2016, the program was ended due to a loss of support from the sponsoring organization (Dosomthing.org)
Garlic Mustard Pull & From Pest to Pesto
From 2012 until 2016, JDAL partnered with the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in a yearly school wide competition to aide in the removal and destruction of the invasive Garlic Mustard. Beginning in 2013-14 school year, students took collected garlic mustard and made and served a meal to homeless citizens of Green Bay at the NEW Homeless Shelter in a program called From Pest to Pesto. In 2016, due to administrative changes at the shelter, the event became a community dinner. In the 2016-17 school year, the event was canceled due to repeating inclement weather, and the event has not occurred since.
Event Night
JDAL hosts a bi-yearly "Event Night" where students show one of their favorite projects from that year to the community in a Science Fair Style Event. Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt regularly attends these events, in addition to members of the Board of Education for the City of Green Bay.
References
- ↑ "John Dewey Academy of Learning". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 2, 2017.