Mission Statement
At Ubuntu Education Center we are focused on the complete wellbeing, growth, and education of your child so that they may become knowledgable, active, global citizens.
Commitments and Goals (Sergiovanni 74)
Our Three Commitments To You:
- Your child will be cared for and respected in a genuine, loving, community of learners.
- Your child will be encouraged to develop their sense of responsibility to themselves, their classmates, and the greater community.
- Your child will be provided a well-rounded, inclusive, differentiated, and high quality instruction where they will be motivated and encouraged by their teachers and peers.
Special Education Services"Moving through fear, finding out what connects us, reveling in our differences; this is the process that brings us closer, that gives us a world of shared values, of meaningful community." -bell hooks (from "Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope")
We accept and value all students regardless of their ability and include them to the fullest extend possible in the regular education curriculum (Sergiovanni 105). We challenge the notion that students with disabilities need to be pulled out and taught in a separate environment, instead we are focusing on retraining our teachers, teacher assistants, and special education teachers to work together to support students in the regular education environment (Forlin, 5). We know that each of our teachers has the positive attitude and the genuine belief in inclusive education that is necessary to include all students to the fullest extent possible (Forlin, 6). Every one of our teachers has the same stake in our students, not one person is “responsible.” What inclusion does for regular education students... There should be no concern to regular education students and parents about full inclusion; there is NO evidence that including students with special needs lowers the performance of other students (Frederickson, 27). In fact, teachers report that by implementing strategies intended for students with special needs “contribute to improved achievement for all” (Frederickson, 27). Our students come to be an understanding bunch, who willingly take up tutoring opportunities and encourage each other to be successful (Sergiovanni 44). The tutoring strengthens the intellectual skills and deepens the understanding of all students (Sergiovanni 49). What inclusion does for special education students... Our special education students are not segregated into separate classes where they feel shame for having to be taken out of their regular classroom with their peers. Instead, our special education teacher pushes-in to support all students, collaborates with the regular education teachers, and works with the teacher assistants in each classroom to ensure that all of our students’ needs are being met. This may look like adapting homework and tests, reading tests aloud, scribing for students, or reteaching in small groups in the room, among many other accommodations and modifications. We find that the social, emotional, and academic well being of all our students thrive in this environment. |
Service LearningOur educators are healers; we trust in the wholeness of life and the wholeness of people (hooks, 181). We have the courage to educate our students about the importance of healing the world into what it may become (hooks, 181).
One of our goals for our students is for them to become responsible for the greater community. One of the way that we develop this responsibility in students is through service learning opportunities. These projects help students to become well educated about social issues and in turn they develop a caring spirit and prioritize community in their values and life choices (Sergiovanni 131; alternativebreaks.org). We believe that with exposure, every student will find a social issue that they care deeply about, whether that be environmental, education, homelessness, hunger, disabilities, or something else. Imagine the world we could have if every student had the opportunity to develop their passions into something life changing. Service learning opportunities start small, for example pre schoolers watering flowers and planting gardens, and grow into something greater as they get older (Sergiovanni 131). We know that these experiences lay the foundation for students to embrace responsibility, honesty, integrity, tolerance and appreciation for differences (Sergiovanni 131) |