Welcome to the Classical School of Appleton, Wisconsin!   The 2007-2008 school year marks our eighth year of operation.  Classical School is an instrumentality of the Appleton Area School District and is an official Core Knowledge® school.  Our school is located at 3310 N. Durkee Street (at the corner of Capitol Drive and Durkee Street on the north side of Appleton).

Classical School Office: 3310 N. Durkee Street; Appleton, WI 54911.  Phone: (920) 832-4968. Fax:(920) 997-1390.

Classical Charter School Association Board of Directors: Michael Orr (President); Lisa Hood (Vice President); Sam Miller (Treasurer);  Dorian Jordan (Secretary);  Kiran Chawla (Treasurer elect), and Timothy Webster.

[Click HERE for phone numbers, email addresses, and web pages]

Dean of Academic and Administrative Affairs: Constance Ford

Program Support Specialist: Kathy Povolny

School Secretaries:  Linda Kemps, Head Secretary and Sue Hietpas, Assistant Secretary

Student body: Approximately 450students  in grades K-8

Class sizes: 26 Students per class with two classes of kindergarten through eighth grade

Kindergarten: Option of full or half day

Admission: Applicants are selected based on a lottery system.  The application period begins November 1st of each fall for the following school year.  The lottery is held after January 15th.  Parents are notified in writing by February 1st of their child's enrollment or waiting list status for the following school year. Click here for applications.  Please contact Kathy Povolny for further information about enrollment at Classical School at 832-4968 or povolnykathlee@aasd.k12.wi.us.

Curriculum: The goal of Classical School  is to teach challenging and stimulating content while using well-researched teaching methods and curricula.  We are an official Core Knowledge® school that follows E.D. Hirsch's curriculum in grades K-8.

Classical School provides an excellent education through an academically rigorous curriculum.  The foundational guide is E.D. Hirsch’s Core Knowledge Sequence. Mastery is emphasized in all subject areas.  Students are taught to strive for personal excellence in all areas of their lives.  We promote knowledge-centered education, cultural literacy, and the values of a democratic society.

Educational justice at Classical School means equal access to the basic skills and content needed for future learning.  We are committed to a universal mastery for all our students.  With the support of the school, staff, and parents, the student is expected to strive for academic growth and is held accountable for his or her schoolwork and behavior.  Individual effort and ability determine student academic success.

The Core Knowledge Sequence is knowledge-based and includes science; mathematics; language arts; classic literature; English; history and geography; music; and visual arts.  A knowledge-based curriculum emphasizes the importance of learning a broad, contextual body of common knowledge.

While the Core Knowledge Sequence is wide-ranging in overall scope, it also stipulates the learning of a specific, sequenced, shared, and solid body of knowledge at each grade level. The specificity of the curriculum ensures consistency within each grade level and prevents repetition and gaps in content from year to year. Each level develops a shared base of background knowledge from which to build future learning.

Instruction focuses on unabridged classic literature, literary analysis, grammar, and composition after students achieve skill mastery in reading.  Writing is emphasized in all grades and content areas. Starting in kindergarten, students receive accelerated instruction in reading and spelling using SRA’s Direct Instruction program at the skill level appropriate for them. The Saxon math program is used for math instruction.  Mastery in all skills is emphasized.  The Shurley Method is used to teach strong grammar skills.  Spanish language instruction is provided daily in grades kindergarten through eight.  Instruction is delivered in Spanish and aims for mastery in aural, oral, and written proficiency.  Students in grades K – 8 participate in physical education and music classes as well.  Orchestra is available for students in grades 4 – 8 and band for students in grades 6 – 8.

The students at Classical School are challenged and stimulated through this rich curriculum. Students who complete our program through the eighth grade will have achieved strong skills in reading, math, English grammar, speech, Spanish, and self-discipline.  They will also have received a solid common knowledge of American and world history, geography, literature, physical and life sciences, and the fine arts.

• CLICK HERE TO SEE  THE CURRICULUM AT A GLANCE

• CLICK HERE TO READ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The School Day
The school day is structured around direct teaching and learning where every educational minute matters.  We believe in knowledge-centered education rather than learner-centered education.  The teacher is the leader of classroom instruction, directing the lessons through modeling, coaching, and practice. The transmission of content knowledge is accomplished through whole class teacher-directed instruction and discussion rather than project-based, child-directed, or exploratory learning.

The Teacher’s Role
Teachers at Classical School are knowledgeable professionals who champion academic learning.  They use their personal teaching styles and a variety of learning opportunities to teach the specifics of the curriculum and they accept the responsibility to effectively use class time to give children a superior education.  Classical School teachers promote kindness and respect in their actions.  They take the responsibility of being the classroom instructional leader, rather than following the children’s lead.

The Parents’ Role
Parents are an integral part of their children’s education and we acknowledge that schools are accountable to the authority of parents.  Classical School was founded by parents and is governed by a parent board.  The grading system and report card were designed to give parents accurate information about the academic progress of their children. We take pride in providing an educational choice for parents and in the knowledge that all our students are a part of our school because their parents chose the Classical School.

"We cannot afford any more decades dominated by ideas that promote natural, integrated project-learning over focused instruction leading to well-practiced operational skills in reading and mathematics, and well-stocked minds conversant with individual subject matters like history and biology.  We need to reject the ill-founded notions that every child learns naturally at his or her own pace and that teaching the child is more important than teaching the subject (whatever that means, beyond failure to teach the subject).  We must not accept the claim that knowing how to learn (which is an abstract skill that does not even exist) is more important than having a broad foundation of factual knowledge that really does enable further learning.  We must reject the disparagement of verbal learning and the celebration of 'hands-on' learning, based on the false Romantic premise that mere words are inauthentic components of human understanding.  We cannot afford still to accept the untrue belief that adequate schooling is natural and painless, and mainly a function of individual talent rather than hard work.  We must reject the false claim that delaying learning until the child is 'ready' will speed up learning in the long run.  We must cease listening to the siren call that learning should be motivated entirely by inward love of the subject and interest in it, without a significant admixture of external incentive.  In short, we must cease attending to the Romantic ideas that the reformers of the 1990s, echoing the reformers of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s and all the decades in between, have been pronouncing in chorus.These ideas are emphatically not reforms.  They are the long-dominant controlling ideas of our failed schools" (p.216-217). ]

Back to the Top

CHARTER SCHOOL CONTRACT BETWEEN THE APPLETON AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT AND CLASSICAL CHARTER SCHOOL ASSOCIATION, INC.

The Advisory Council meets on a regular basis throughout the school year. Council members include two CCSA Board members, the school's administrator,  two faculty representatives, and two  parent representatives. Meetings are open to the public.

The Advisory Council parent representatives for 2007-2008 school year will be elected at the fall 2007 meeting.

       Meetings for the 2007-2008 School Year:

• October 9 – First Advisory Council in Room 122 at 6:00pm
• December 11– Advisory Council in Room 122 at 6:00pm
• Feb 12 – Advisory Council in Room 122 at 6:00pm
• April 8 – Advisory Council in Room 122 at 6:00pm

Classical School was the brainchild of parent organizer, Kendra Lindsay.  Kendra gathered several like-minded parents, and wrote a proposal to take to the Appleton Area School District. The Assistant Superintendent and the Superintendent liked what they saw, and supported the idea of providing educational choices to parents. They gave permission to distribute brochures to families in the district, place informational materials in the school libraries, and use district facilities for informational meetings.

The other founding members of the Classical School Association's Board of Directors included Kenneth Bozeman, Nancy and Michael Fischer, Shawn and Constance Ford, Sam Miller, Christine VanRyzin, Scott Hanson, and Robyn Hernandez.

We gave 20 informational meetings, gathered the names of over 300 students and 195 parents, received a charter school planning grant, followed a number of time consuming dead ends, and ended up being approved by our Board of Education on February 8, 1999. We opened in August of 1999 with 194 students in kindergarten through sixth grade. We started with one class per grade except for kindergarten, in which we had two half-day classes. We will grow over the years to eventually have two classes per grade in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Classical School is an instrumentality of the school district, and our teachers are members of the Appleton Education Association, the teachers’ union. We feel extremely fortunate to have a good relationship with the Appleton Area School District.  The AASD Board of Education, Superintendent, Tom Scullen, Assistant Superintendent, Linda Dawson, and various other administrators have supported us along the way of establishing our school.

In the fall of 2003, Appleton Area School District renovated a building at the corner of Durkee Street and Capital Drive to house our elementary program and in the fall of 2005, a wing for the upper level students was added to provide a K-8 campus on one site.

Back to the Top

CURRICULUM DETAILS:

Core Knowledge® Curriculum:

• Grades K - 8: Language Arts, English, American and World History, American and World Geography, Science, Art/Art History, and Music/Music History.

• Reading: Students learn to read using the SRA Direct Instruction program, Horizons.  Once students have completed Reading Mastery IV, we continue to work on reading development and fluency through the Core Knowledge® Language Arts/English studies.  The reading sequence is as follows:

• Spelling: Students learn spelling instruction through SRA's Spelling Mastery program, beginning in kindergarten and ending at the end of grade six.  Students who have completed Level-F of spelling, study vocabulary development.

• Math: Math is taught using the Saxon Math direct instruction program for students in grades K - 8.  Harold Jacob's Geometry is used for students who will have Geometry at Classical.  The math sequence is as follows:

Spanish:

Spanish is taught daily in all grades and is taught in the Spanish language.

• Grades K-6: Thirty minutes each day
• Grades 7-8: Forty-six minutes each day

• Grammar is taught in grades 1 - 6 using the Shurley English Method
• Students learn over 200 Greek and Latin roots in grades 4 - 8
• Students in grades 7 and 8 have a year of study in fine arts and humanities - including art production, art history, opera, Shakespeare, and other dramas

Back to the Top

SCHOOL MOTTO: Docere, cognoscere, et excellere (To teach, to learn, and to excel) School Crest: [See image to the right] Translation of the Symbols:  Doric column:  wisdom with fortitude; Open Book: a manifestation; Pegasus: Poetic genius and inspiration; Torch: truth and intelligence; Lyre: Contemplation; tempered judgment.  Translation of the Colors (the colors used, are the CCS school colors): Gold: Elevation of the mind; White: Peace and sincerity; Blue: Truth and loyalty.   SCHOOL MASCOT: Pegasus

fS

MORE CURRICULUM INFORMATION

• What is Core Knowledge®?

• What is SRA's Direct Instruction?

• What is Saxon Math?

• What is Shurley Grammar/English?

• Please click here for more information about our curriculum and school.

Return to Classical Home Page