Bayside Children's College by Karen Funk
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Bayside Children's College is a purposely small learning center for fifty students ages five to eighteen, located downtown in the small community of Santa Cruz, California. It was founded in August of l992 by Karen Funk, an experienced educator with, at that time, thirty-one years of service in private and public schools throughout California.
The director and fifteen-member staff of this sole proprietorship are dedicated to personalizing the learning experience for each student, as well as the mentoring experience for each adult. At Bayside it is believed that everyone learns best in a natural setting modeled after the family, with active community connection. Bayside offers a service-oriented learning center adapting to the needs, desires and real-life schedules of our students, faciltators and families. The young people and their families have direct access to director and staff at all times, with no bureaucratic red tape, and suggestions for changes are--if financially feasible, appropriate to the center's philosophy and productive for the advancement of learning--able to be implemented without delay. Students are given daily emotional and social support to fulfill the promise they sign at enrollment: to respect and care for themselves, others and things, and to make learning their responsibility and commitment.
Both full and part-time participation are offered. Students may enroll for a daily program of classes and study (no homework required unless they opt for it). Part-time students may schedule as much on-site time as they and/or their parents desire by combining home-schooling with selected classes or personal tutoring at the center to broaden home-schooling resources, or by setting up independent projects to fulfill graduation requirements at Bayside or elsewhere.
Bayside offers a full program of classes in languages, arts, sciences and physical education (not, of course, competitive team sports, but personal fitness and health activities). The center contracts for some programs with agencies, businesses, gyms and studios in the downtown--all within walking distance of the center--and encourages use of local libraries, businesses, government centers, services, galleries, theaters, parks and museums by students of all ages and interests during or outside of the school day.
The center is non-graded. Every student graduates every year, to the next level of learning for that individual, in a formal ceremony with personal feedback from director, staff, students and family, and an award for the accomplishment s/he most cherishes for that year. For graduation to college, Bayside's students matriculate based on readiness as assessed by a staff that knows them well, not based on actual number of courses taken, attendance records or grades. All of the student's work is saved, and the actual work and known learning patterns are evaluated by the staff in light of the student's current plans for the next step into personal development, work or institutions of higher learning. If required to do so by the next educational institution the student will attend, staff will translate the work done at Bayside into grades and credits in a special meeting with staff, parents and the student, reviewing all the actual work on file. Every student is required to have an ongoing resume on a computer file, updated constantly, to develop a sense of capabilities and interests and for use in application for work or schooling.
Staff is chosen by the students. Each prospective staff member must spend voluntary time with the students to get to know their desires, needs and personalities. Following this time with the students, the applicant must audition with at least two unpaid lessons or work sessions in the area of service s/he wishes to offer, and develop a following of at least six students who will approve the hiring. At this point the director determines budget possibilities and finalizes or puts on hold the employment of the applicant. Students interested in working with the applicant are allowed to try out the offering for at least two weeks before committing to stay in the class or keep working individually with the applicant.
Employment does not require a teaching credential. The director has never seen the possession of a credential as significant to the quality of learning facilitation. It is important for staff members to convey approachability, enthusiasm and knowledgeability, from experience or education, in order to attract sufficient student interest to be hired.
Bayside has no entrance requirements at all, but reserves the right to ask the student to leave who is unable or refuses to become a respectful and contributing member of the learning center community. The center often serves as a transitional setting for students dissatisfied with traditional school, and as a setting for homeschoolers who feel the need to connect with other learners on a more personal/social basis. Personal choice is accommodated with as much flexibility as the center's basic philosophy will permit.
Karen Funk, the director, is ready and willing to act as consultant to anyone anywhere who would like to set up a similar learning center. She can guide an entrepreneur through the process step-by-step, from getting the word out to walking the talk, from humane considerations to legal red tape. Call, write or email to make arrangements for consultation. Contact her at Bayside Children's College,
1025 Center St.,
Santa Cruz, CA 95060;
(831) 454-0370
Email: bayside@cruzio.com
Website: http://members.cruzio.com/~bayside/* * * * *
© Copyright 2000. Karen Funk - All Rights Reserved.
bayside@cruzio.com
http://members.cruzio.com/~bayside/