A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Teacher Power: CROSSING THE PRIVATE LINE

Finding colleagues and support for change may be almost next door, although the doorways may be very different from each other. Heathwood Hall is a private K-12 school in Columbia, S.C., which joined the Coalition of Essential Schools in 1987 and is about to graduate its first senior class under a system of mastery, not Carnegie units. The faculty worked through all of the challenges of the reforms--rewriting its curriculum and extending the school day. The principles of the Coalition worked for this independent school. Why not share their expertise with interested public schools?

With a grant from the state, Heathwood Hall held a "graduate course" in the Coalition for principals and teachers of 15 public schools in the area. Each public school also received funds for staff development, aided by teachers from Heathwood Hall.

The private school did not make money on the project, according to Jane Ness, principal of its middle school, "but we've been enriched because we are part of a larger network of teachers."

For Sandy Nay, a teacher at one of the public schools, the collaboration spelled greater success for her students. "They are more active learners, they take more responsibility for their own learning." While Nay was skeptical at first because of Heathwood Hall's idyllic setting, she acknowledged that, "we are a better school because of our branching out." Success is best when it is shared.

**last updated 5/18/94 (pkickbush)***
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