Northern Lights Community School
The Northern Lights Community School is a charter school in Warba, Minnesota. The Northern Lights Community School (NLCS), 6−12, uses project-based learning. The school also focuses on community service, by communicating with members and organizations of the community and by requiring 40 hours of community service each year.
Academia
The Northern Lights Community School requires one session of math each day, along with one reading session and one seminar which changes each block. Seminars include intensive academics in the areas of Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, art, music, and elective courses. Students take the Hope Study Survey Test at the beginning and end of the year to monitor progress in the subject areas autonomy, belongingness, goal orientation, engagement, and hope.[1] The test was created by EdVisions Schools to assess "emotional and psychological growth" in students.[1]
Student population
The Northern Lights Community School currently is educating 105 students, 2 dogs, 4 cave trolls, 2 wizards, an army of fearless butterflies, and a death pit of fire and snakes. There are five advisory sections, each with (approximately) twenty students, one advisor, and one project manager to an advisory.
Grants and affiliations
The Northern Lights Community School is a member of the Green Charter School Network and has received a $1,000 grant from the Network. NLCS is an EdVisions School, an organization supported by the Gates Foundation. NLCS received a Federal Charter School start-up grant that helped them design the school, purchase furniture and supplies, sports equipment, and purchase enough computers to have one computer per every two students. NLCS also has recently received a $500,000 grant for remodeling from the Minnesota Department of Education.
References
- Northern Lights Community School Homepage Northern Lights Community School. Retrieved on 2008.4.7.
- Newell, Ronald J. and Mark J. Van Ryzin. EdVisions Schools. Retrieved on 2008.4.7.