Vermilion Country School

Vermilion Country School
Address
1 Enterprise Dr.
Tower, Minnesota 55790
United States
Coordinates 47°48′07″N 92°16′52″W / 47.802°N 92.281°W / 47.802; -92.281Coordinates: 47°48′07″N 92°16′52″W / 47.802°N 92.281°W / 47.802; -92.281
Information
Type public secondary
Opened 2013
Administrator Kevin Fitton
Staff 4
Faculty 6
Teaching staff 5
Grades 7-12
Gender coed
Enrollment 56 (2014 data)
Average class size 15
Campus rural
Website http://www.vermilioncountry.org

Vermilion Country School is a public secondary charter school in Tower, Minnesota, United States. Most of the students reside in St Louis County, Minnesota in particular the communities of Tower, Soudan, Embarrass, Ely, and Virginia. VCS is a project based learning school where students complete projects based on Minnesota curriculum requirements instead of attending individual classes for each subject. Education plans are individualized to each student and is overseen by a teacher/advisor. Each teacher/advisor is responsible for approximately 15 students in a class called an advisory. The school day is flexible between seminars that advisors lead and project time that students are able to work on their own projects. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays are the standard days, while Wednesdays have a different structure to accommodate longer seminars and the school's Big Circle school wide meeting. Wednesdays are also early release days to accommodate staff meetings/trainings during the year. Fridays are 'Experience Friday' days where the school as whole does projects that help expose students to things they have never tried or opportunities for service learning.

History of VCS

"As far back as 2007, local citizens in Tower began thinking about better ways for children to be educated. When the public district tore down the high school in 2010, and displaced Tower students were bussed far away to other schools, plans for a grades 7-12 charter school began in earnest. The process was slow - with funding and facility challenges along the way. However, in December of 2012, VCCS was awarded a $125,000 federal school start-up grant. Meanwhile area residents donated generously, and the City of Tower underwrote the remodeling of an unused manufacturing building".[1]

Academics

VCS uses Project Foundry[2] as it's learning management and grading system. Students complete projects by working with advisors to first outline their projects beforehand, log the time during, and then assessing the project for completeness in order to record earned credit for graduation. This allows all students to individualize their learning toward topics they have a personal interest in while still meeting MN educational standards. New for the 2015-16 school year, the schedule will be varied for students depending on how much structured time that particular student needs from almost all project time to almost all seminar/elective based.

Presentation nights[3] occur several times through the year to showcase projects that students have completed for their graduation requirements. This is also an opportunity for students to develop public speaking skills and polish their presentation skills for later in life.

Culture & Discipline

VCS is a student centered and team collaborative school model that attempts to address many of the difficulties that students who haven't been successful in a traditional school have faced. To that end, VCS uses a restorative justice [4] model when it comes to their discipline plan. The goal is not to be punitive, but to repair the damage done by those who choose to act in such a manner that is disruptive to the community. Currently, the student congress is working on plans for a peer mediation system and the staff Culture & Discipline Committee meets regularly to address issues that arise during the week that need attention.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.vermilioncountry.org
  2. ↑ http://www.projectfoundry.org/
  3. ↑ http://www.timberjay.com/stories/Its-all-in-the-presentation,11824?content_source=&category_id=&search_filter=vermilion+country+school&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&list_type=&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=&sub_type=&town_id=
  4. ↑ http://www.timberjay.com/stories/Building-community-through-restorative-justice,11432?content_source=&category_id=&search_filter=vermilion+country+school&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&list_type=&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=&sub_type=&town_id=

VCS Website - www.vermilioncountry.org

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