Small Learning Communities (SLC)
Small Learning Communities in a large school divide into clusters or houses in which teacher teams create small, personalized learning environments. These interdisciplinary teams share the responsibility for their group of students. Small Learning Communities (SLC) include structures such as freshman academies, multi-grade academies organized around career interests or other themes, “houses” in which small groups of students remain together throughout high school, and independent schools-within-a-school, as well as personalization strategies, such as student advisories, family advocate systems, and mentoring programs.
Small Learning Communities create separate, autonomous, small schools (maximum population of 300 students) within one large building or campus. Each school has its own dedicated administrators, faculty, and students, with a student assignment process that ensures equitable distribution of students by race/ethnicity, SES, language, gender, prior educational achievement, and disability.
Small learning communities (SLCs) allow students, school staff and families to form closer relationships. Teaching staff can work together across disciplines in their SLCs to take on new ways of teaching and can engage students in rigorous, high quality learning.
While each school has its own personalized culture and identity, the principal is ultimately responsible for the entire school. In some cases, these schools-within-schools share a common schedule, curriculum, extracurricular activities, and sports teams, while others are largely autonomous.
In all cases, they share common spaces such as the auditorium, cafeteria, library, and gymnasium. As in large schools, distinct small schools that share one facility can create interdisciplinary teams of teachers that share a common set of students to further personalize the learning environment.
| Small Learning Communities (SLC) | Staff |
|
9th Grade Academy |
36 |
|
Academy of Fine Arts & Humanities |
36 |
|
Business, Management, & Entrepreneurship |
16 |
|
Science, Technology, & Engineering |
20 |
|
Social & Human Services |
21 |