<< Back 7/24/02 Swain charter school awarded $35,000 grant for teacher training SMN Mountain Discovery Charter School has been awarded a $35,000 Federal IDEA grant to train its teachers in a teaching approach called Expeditionary Learning. The grant was awarded in June to the new charter school, which will open Aug. 14 in Swain County. “IDEA grants are awarded to deserving public schools to help them address special needs of their students,” said MDCS Director Renee Rogers. “MDCS is not a school specifically for special needs students, but as a North Carolina public school, we will be serving children of all ability levels. One reason MDCS has chosen Expeditionary Learning as a teaching approach is that it promotes teaching styles that address the many different ways in which children learn.” In the first three years of Expeditionary Learning‘s implementation in schools, The Academy for Educational Development (AED) conducted a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the 10 original demonstration schools located in five cities. In AED surveys, teachers said that Expeditionary Learning’s program of staff development improved their ability to teach students of different ability levels in the same class and assess students academically and socially. Teachers also reported heightened student motivation as one of the most positive outcomes of teaching through learning expeditions. MDCS will be using the funding for an on-site summer institute for MDCS teachers prior to the opening of school, and to continue that training throughout the entire school year. “This special training will be highly beneficial to all our students,” Rogers said. “The research results indicate that Expeditionary Learning helps to improve student achievement. Students tend to perform well compared to state and district averages on standardized tests such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the Georgia Curriculum-based Assessment Test. Positive results have been found across subjects (e.g., reading, writing, math, science, and social studies).” Rogers said MDCS will be using the North Carolina Standard Course of Study, along with the nationally known Core Knowledge Sequence, as a functional curriculum. Mountain Discovery Charter School is currently renovating its new home on Hughes Branch Road next to Ingle’s Market in Bryson City. The school is still accepting enrollment forms. Any child who is a North Carolina resident and meets the age and grade requirements is eligible to attend Mountain Discovery. Spaces are currently available in grades K-6. . Enrollment forms are available at the Bryson City and Sylva public libraries, at the Swain County Chamber of Commerce, and from the school website at www.mtndiscovery.org.