CLEVELAND, Ohio – Urban Community School serves children from 3 years old through eighth grade on the near West Side, 78 percent from families living at or below the poverty level.
The independent ecumenical school, founded and supported by the Ursuline Sisters, uses innovative educational methods and a whole-child, family-centered approach to help its students succeed.
Here are some of the ways Urban makes a difference:
- Teachers make home visits before the start of the school year to get to know students and their parents.
- The average classroom size is 21 students. The early childhood and elementary classrooms have both a teacher and a teacher’s aide.
- Classrooms are multi-age, with grades 2/3, 4/5 and 6/7/8 combined.
- Students progress at their own pace in a differentiated educational approach. This means that while all students in a classroom study a particular topic, a layered system allows students of varying abilities to navigate through the subject at their own rate.
- Teachers assess the students’ progress not with grades, but with individual goals set by the teacher and student together. Standardized tests and academic testing software help teachers identify each child’s needs, but are not the only measurement of performance.
- Children can begin their education in the school’s Montessori preschool program for kids 3 through 5.
- Students learn peer-mediation skills in their classrooms, and use those skills to mediate disputes among themselves, with teachers monitoring but not participating.
- Family engagement is key. Parent-teacher conferences twice a year are mandatory, and the school encourages parents to volunteer in classrooms and become involved in the school.
- Through community partnerships, Urban connects families with resources for health care, nutrition, education and housing.
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