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Archive for October 2008

Pacifica Practices Compassionate Communication

Compassionate Communication (also known as “Non-Violent Communication” or “NVC”) honors and respects the value, dignity and life force of all human beings, including children.  At its core, Compassionate Communication holds that relationships are built on respect and kindness toward basic human needs.

In education, Compassionate Communication offers simple, effective conflict resolution and and communication skills to foster an emotionally healthy classroom environment where academic excellence thrives.

At Pacifica, we don’t limit our Compassionate Communication philosophy to the classroom.  We practice this philosophy throughout our community, including with family and community governance communications.

Compassionate Communication is so important to us at Pacifica that we have a dedicated Communications Specialist on campus full time.

When conflict arises on campus (regardless of whether students or adults are involved), the following steps are implemented by any observing third party:

1. The action is stopped.
2. The third party describes what s/he saw.
3. All participants in the conflict are invited to tell their story.
4. The third party reflects back what s/he heard from each participant.
5. The third party acknowledges each participant’s feelings.
6. The third party helps each participant focus on objective observation, rather than judgment.
7. The third party helps the participants identify their feelings and needs.
8. The third party asks the participants how they plan to solve the conflict.
9. The third party listens to each participant’s ideas, reflects them back and/or offers his or her own ideas, if the participants don’t have ideas.
10. Everybody gets a chance to respond to the ideas and they agree on a plan.
11. The third party clearly restates the agreed upon plan.

An easy script to keep in mind when acting as the third party mediator is:

1. What happened?
2. How did it make you feel?
3. What needs are being met or not being met?
4. What will you do now?

Compassionate Communication on campus is not optional.  It is mandatory and all members of our community are expected to step in and act as third party mediators whenever conflict is observed.  Questions about Compassionate Communication and Pacifica’s policies can be directed to our dedicated on-campus Communications Specialist.

For more information on how you can practice Compassionate Communication at home to further reinforce and support what your child is learning at school, read What You Can Do At Home To Support Your Child’s Experience At Pacifica.

We Are A Diverse Community

We are a small, but diverse community at Pacifica.  We embrace our cultural, ethnic, economic and emotional diversity in a safe, supportive and nurturing environment.  Our student body represents 40 zip codes across LA County and nearly a dozen different languages are spoken in the homes of our students.

We are a small, but diverse community at Pacifica.  We embrace our cultural, ethnic, economic and emotional diversity in a safe, supportive and nurturing environment.  Our student body represents 40 zip codes across LA County and nearly a dozen different languages are spoken in the homes of our students.

Life Is A Project

Life is a series of projects and that is an important reason why we embrace project-based learning at Pacifica.

Life is a series of projects and that is an important reason why we embrace project-based learning at Pacifica.

Life is a series of projects and that is an important reason why we embrace project-based learning at Pacifica.

Life is a series of projects and that is an important reason why we embrace project-based learning at Pacifica.

Life is a series of projects and that is an important reason why we embrace project-based learning at Pacifica.

Life is a series of projects and that is an important reason why we embrace project-based learning at Pacifica.

Humanistic Education Is The Essence Of Who We Are At Pacifica

Humanistic Education refers to an educational philosophy that believes humans are, by nature, self-developing creatures.

A humanistic educator’s primary responsibility is to create an environment in which students can do their own growing. Humanistic educators have a broad understanding of the knowledge that children acquire as they grow, and highly value a student’s affective and social development as well as their intellectual development.

The goal of humanistic education is to contribute to the development of energetic, positive, self-respecting, caring human beings who can meet all challenges.

A Word From Our Director

Whether you are already a member of our Pacifica Community Charter School family or interested in finding out more about us, we welcome you to our community of learners.

As you navigate our website looking for specific information or to get a picture of who we are and our goals for educating young people, keep in mind that we are deeply committed to six basic pillars of education – parent participation, democratic process, constructivist project-based learning, humanistic education, diversity, and compassionate communication.

We strive here at Pacifica to support our students in becoming lifelong learners.  We value inquiry and children’s natural curiosity as a catalyst for developing curriculum to learn basic skills and standards. We develop with our students the tools and study skills that allow them to grow into proficient and self-directed learners.

Our humanistic philosophy attends to the development of the whole child. We honor self-expression as a right of each person in our community and we ask that each person take responsibility for their actions and words. As a part of this philosophy, we support and validate children in processing their feelings. We support them though active listening and reflect their thoughts, to ensure understanding. This process allows our students to grow in their ability to clearly articulate their thoughts and feelings and attaches a sense of value to self-reflection.

As a California public school, the California State Standards are an integral part of our whole child education goals. Blending our philosophy with State Curriculum Guidelines, we strive to offer a child-friendly, developmental approach to education. We look to meaningful, relevant, real-life learning activities to maintain children’s interest and strong desire for learning.  We believe students must also acquire the skills necessary to become collaborative workers, effective communicators, community contributors, and critical thinkers.

It is our goal that students grow in the areas of understanding and compassion as we embrace diversity in our community. Our commitment to anti-bias education principles and multiculturalism asks all members of our community to stretch beyond the superficial levels of simple interaction. We ask for mutual respect of all members of our community of learners. By working together students, teachers and parents foster a thoughtful learning environment that includes a sense of compassion, awareness and sensitivity to each other.  Children learn and work best in a cooperative, non-competitive environment where student’s thoughts and opinions are honored and respected.

We also strive to create an environment where students’ wide range of interests and talents can be uncovered, encouraged and nurtured.  Learning best occurs through active participation where children have opportunities to freely explore, discover, question and investigate

As members of the Pacifica Community Charter School community of learners we know that childhood is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We have set ourselves ambitious goals and take joy in offering the absolute highest standards of teaching, learning, facilitating, mentoring and sharing with our families.

We welcome your thoughts, ideas, concerns, questions and total involvement in all we do.

Gary Winning, Director

Welcome To Pacifica!

Pacifica Community Charter School is an independent public K-8 charter school founded by a socially, economically and culturally diverse group of families and teachers.  We are a small, intimate school but we cover a lot of ground!  Our student body includes families from 40 different zip codes and families that speak eight different languages at home.

Pacifica was founded on the principle that all children — not just those from families who can afford private school — deserve to have the choice of a humanistic, whole child education.  We have always promoted active, collaborative and hands-on learning.  We are not textbook-driven.  Our children co-create their curriculum.

Like school reform advocate Howard Gartner, we believe here at Pacifica that education should nurture the full range of multiple intelligences, not just cognitive skills and rote memorization.  Understanding and respecting one’s feelings and learning to honestly, authentically and respectfully communicate those feelings, as well as developing one’s inner strengths are among the most precious gifts a school can provide its children, and Pacifica is guided by principles in support of these gifts.

At Pacifica, we pride ourselves on being just a little bit different when it comes to educating our community of learners.  It’s a difference that you’ll have to see to appreciate.  Come tour Pacifica to see our mission in action.

To keep us on track with our important mission, the Pacifica community has adopted the following Mission Statement:

• Provide humanistic, non-coercive, constructivist public education to children of all ethnic and economic backgrounds
• Support active learning through hands-on experiences, self-evaluation and collaboration, with our young learners co-creating their own curriculum
• Nuture acceptance, empathy, generosity, global citizenship, optimism and a joy of learning
• Build community and a family atmosphere through multi-age learning experiences
• Provide a non-authoritarian learning environment through the practice of compassionate communication
• Operate our community on democratic, consensus-driven principles
• Support parents in communicating compassionately  and honestly with their children outside of school
• Promote and advocate humanistic education as the logical path for public school reform

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