Learning Community Charter School

We are thrilled to announce that LCCS has been selected for the prestigious “Teachers of Critical Languages Program,” which is run through the U.S. State Department, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and will bring a Chinese citizen (who teaches English there) to teach Mandarin at LCCS for the 2016-2017 school year.

More than 200 schools applied for the grant nationwide, and only 23 were chosen.

We are still working out all the details, but the teacher will be giving Mandarin instruction to students in 5th and 6th grades. He or she will also be engaging with students in other grades in a variety of ways, including leading a Chinese Club, and making visits to other grades to teach about Chinese culture and literature. He or she will also be an active part of LCCS life including assemblies, concerts, and other school-wide activities. 

The grant will pay for a full school-year’s salary for the teacher, as well as his or her living expenses. LCCS does not have to contribute financially in any way.  We are looking forward to this exciting opportunity and will be talking more about our visiting teacher in the months to come! 

If you have any questions about the program, please reach out to Development Director Jen Hughes. 

There are two new programs this year for the upper grades that are very exciting.

Supervised Independent Study: If you have a student in grades 5-8 you might have seen a permission slip that went home about this program. Students who sign up for SIS will have a place to go on Mondays and Thursdays from 3:30-4:30 if they need a little extra help with a homework assignment, or they want a quiet place to work on homework.

The program, led by Emily Litman and Michelle Flam, will also be the place and time where students can make-up a test that they missed during an absence. That way, they won’t have to lose class time to take the test and they can keep up with their peers.

21^st Century: Middle school students have a chance to delve deeply into some exciting fields of study in this new course. At the beginning of the year, students were given a list of topics (urban gardens, abnormal psychology, social justice, nutrition are a few of the options.)

Students will work studying these subjects in small groups of 10-15, led by teachers across the Middle School faculty. For example, in the social justice class, students might research an issue surrounding that topic, come up with a proposal to explain a particular social justice movement and research that movement and then present what they’ve learned to their peers.

Students will get a chance to pick three topics in 21^st Century throughout the school year. Thanks to all the Middle School faculty who are guiding them in this fascinating effort!