Non-traditional Schools

I have a rather complicated idea of non-traditional schools.  In concept, they sound very cool.  It seems as though non-traditional schools are an effective means of teaching beyond the normal curriculum.  However, it seems as though the model for non-traditional schools is not yet ready to be implemented.  The organization that is necessary to run an effective school just isn’t there.  On top of that, it seems as though almost all of these non-traditional schools focus almost entirely on science.  This means there is vital information in other content areas that the students are missing out on.

                There is another key piece of the Harpswell School that I have an issue with.  This goes beyond my educational philosophy, but I don’t think that it is a positive that there is no custodial staff or kitchen staff.  The unemployment rates in our country are at record highs, and schools like this are making them worse.  This would also have a negative effect in the classroom.  This takes vital time away from education planning.

                All around, I would say the presentation was a decent representation of the paper.  The only inconsistency I found was the difference between how the different philosophies treat the non-traditional school model.  There was no real mention of the different philosophical school of thought during the presentation.  Despite this fact, I think this group did a fantastic job creating a case study of the Harpswell School.