Values & Operating Principles of Harbor Schools

The Harbor School Method is centered on founder Becky Stallcop’s belief …

"When students are given a learning environment with low threat to their personal safety and self esteem and highly challenging academic content, the inevitable outcome is accelerated learning."

What is the Harbor School Method?

The Harbor School Method is a child centered educational model built on high expectations for both student behavior and academic endeavor. The Harbor School Method provides a comprehensive plan for character education and a rigorous program of core subject instruction. The method proactively sets up an environment that allows students to focus on learning while in a safe, secure setting.

Focus on Kindness

The name, Harbor School Method, comes from our total commitment to make schools a “safe harbor” for the children entrusted to our care. The “safe harbor” is created with a unique character education curriculum that focuses on kindness and taps into each child's innate need to know boundaries while protecting every child's dignity. Harbor Schools employ a fun interactive strategy called expectation training in which teachers clearly illustrate and define what kindness looks like before students have a chance be unkind. Since kindness and citizenship go hand in hand, daily lessons stress what it means to be a “good citizen or employee in the real world” and how that relates to being a successful student. Even daily school procedures are designed to support the school's emphasis on kindness. Children who exemplify good citizenship by displaying hard work, responsibility, honesty, and respect are given special recognition through a well-designed reward system.

Harbor School students also know that if they are threatened emotionally or physically during their school day, the staff will address the problem. Students are assured that all situations will be handled because of our zero tolerance policy for unkindness. Using these specific and targeted strategies, Harbor Schools prevent teasing, taunting, bullying, and negative peer pressure which have all been identified as common precursors to student aggression.

Academic Program

The atmosphere created by our focus on kindness allows children to soar socially and academically. Students are not afraid to take academic risks, like answering or asking questions in front of peers, when they feel safe and supported. They are not distracted from learning by fear. This is extremely important in Harbor Schools because our educational focus is accelerated learning. Our teachers use the state standards as a floor rather than a ceiling for learning. The Harbor School academic program offers a challenging curriculum for all students. Teachers, with the help of educational assistants, and a team of parent volunteers are engaged in the act of direct teaching throughout the day using a variety of proven teaching techniques (tactile, visual, kinesthetic, auditory, group and independent approaches). By taking into account and addressing the varying developmental rates and learning modalities of the student population, it is possible through this direct-teaching and monitoring approach to keep the curricula challenging and the expectations for learning high.

We are on a relentless pursuit of individual mastery by each student. The teacher reviews in a fast-paced style daily. This attention to daily review helps ensure that all learners acquire the concepts taught sooner or later. We believe it does not matter when a student “gets it”, it matters only that they will “get it” in the end. This takes the desperation out of teaching and the anxiety out of learning. The result is above grade level performance, high standardized test scores, and extraordinary levels of parent and student satisfaction.

Parental Involvement

Parents are given a thorough orientation on the Harbor School Method before their children start school but the best orientation of all is time spent in the classroom. Parents who want to be involved in their child’s education find a welcome and well-organized plan for their contribution of time and energy. Classroom parent volunteers are utilized heavily for individual student review and remediation. The Harbor School Method has found that parental involvement increases dramatically when direct and planned involvement with children is built into volunteer efforts.

Summary

The Harbor School Method establishes a school philosophy, embraced by the teachers, the administrator, students and parents which holds that every student is valued and every student will succeed at a high level both socially and academically. The Harbor School Character Education Plan results in a safe school infused with positive peer pressure, students who are ready to learn everyday, and who possess the self-discipline needed to maximize theirs and other's educational experiences. All styles and rates of learning are taken into account, yet expectations for achievement are not compromised. The Harbor School Method is evidence that where expectations are high and supported with proper instruction in an environment conducive to concentration and comprehension, the results are outstanding.