What is a Charter School?
What is the grade structure and current enrollment of the school?
We have heard that the school plans to expand. Can you please explain more about that?
Is Green Woods staying in the neighborhood?
Is there transportation provided to students?
Are there school uniforms?
Does Green Woods provide breakfast and/or lunch?
What is the length of the school day?
Does Green Woods have a before-school and/or after-school program?
How are students selected?
Where can I find the GWCS Parent/Student Handbook and Discipline Policy?
Does Green Woods provide Special Education Services and, if so, what services does it provide?
What is the focus of Green Woods Curriculum?
What kind of student would enjoy learning at Green Woods?
What is a Charter
School?
Charter Schools are public schools. They are funded by tax dollars. Green Woods Charter School is chartered by the School District of Philadelphia. Charter Schools are mandated to be "innovative" in their approach to teaching and learning while also accountable to the local, state, and federal governments. Green Woods is held accountable to the District and the State to ensure that our students are taught a standards-based curriculum by qualified teachers. Charter schools are self-managed, public schools that operate within the guidelines of Charter School Law established by the State of Pennsylvania.
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What is
the grade structure and current enrollment of the school?
Green Woods currently serves 225 students in grades K through 8. At this time we have one class per grade.
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We have heard that the school plans to expand. Can you please explain more about that?
Greater access to quality education choice - Green Woods provides a quality educational alternative to Philadelphia families and taxpayers. As not only one of the most successful charter schools in Philadelphia, but as one of the most successful schools of any kind in the city, we see it as our responsibility to embrace the opportunity to serve more students.
Greater financial viability – While Green Woods is currently on stable financial ground; public charter schools are, by their nature, financially fragile institutions. Traditional public schools are able to rely on the resources of a school district to help absorb unexpected costs related to facilities, operations, and legal concerns, while public charters have no such safety net.
Improved socialization – While it may seem that there is a benefit to a smaller school, it is impossible to sustain a charter school with our current enrollment. There are also proven social benefits to students being able to interact with more than the same 20 or so classmates for nine years. Adding additional sections within each grade would fulfill both the fiscal and social needs allowing us to plan for a sustainable future and for classes to be mixed and matched promoting greater opportunities for social and emotional diversity.
Economies of scale - With a larger enrollment Green Woods would have a larger funding base ensuring we can retain our stellar teaching staff, create new professional positions, and acquire new state-of-the-art resources within the new school — such as a gymnasium, media/tech center, multiple science rooms and lab space.
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Is Green Woods staying in the neighborhood?
Yes. Our plan has always been to respect the wishes of our community by staying as close to our current location as possible. We have signed an agreement of sale for a property located about a mile away off of Ridge Avenue and we are currently going through our due diligence process. When all goes as planned, we will move into a brand new 60,000+ square foot school, with a multi-acre outdoor learning lab, in September of 2013. We plan to lease space for September 2012 to support our interim growth.
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Is there transportation provided to students?
Transportation services are provided through the School District of Philadelphia and we must abide by their rules and regulations. Per District policy, buses are not provided for Kindergarten students. Bussing for grades 1-8 is determined by many factors including proximity to school and grade level. The rules and regulations are subject to change by the District. When eligible, we encourage parents to utilize bus service for their children. As an environmental school, we want to minimize our carbon footprint.
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Are there school uniforms?
Green Woods students wear uniforms. Parents are required to purchase uniforms for their children.
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Does Green Woods provide breakfast and/or lunch?
We do not serve breakfast or lunch. Students must pack a healthy lunch and a healthy snack to eat each day.
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What is the length of the school day?
Our school day begins between 8:00 and 8:15 and ends between 3:00 and 3:15 depending upon grade level.
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Does Green Woods have a before-school and/or after-school program?
Green Woods does not provide before-school care or after-school care. The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, the Roxborough YMCA and other neighborhood centers do host after school programs for a fee. Arrangements for any after-school program must be made directly with those programs.
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How are students selected?
Students are selected by lottery. For a full description of our admissions process, please go to the "Admissions Process" section on this website and read our Admissions Policy.
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Where can I find the GWCS Parent/Student Handbook and Discipline Policy?
The GWCS Parent/Student Handbook and Discipline Policy is on our website . This handbook is updated each year.
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Does Green Woods provide Special Education Services and, if so, what services does it provide?
Green Woods was founded as a full-inclusive model. This means that we do not operate a more restrictive environment such as learning support classrooms; emotional support classrooms; autistic support classrooms. We believe that education should be delivered in an appropriate setting in which a child has the greatest likelihood of being a successful learner and member of the classroom and community. Some students require a more restrictive level of support beyond what can be successfully and appropriately delivered in a full-inclusive setting. Please feel free to contact our Special Education Coordinator, Gina Knowles, if you have any questions about special education at Green Woods.
The purpose of the special education department at Green Woods Charter School is to provide Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) to students with disabilities. At Green Woods, we want to ensure that students with disabilities find success in a regular education classroom setting. A student may receive additional services if the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team determines that related services are required for that student to make adequate academic progress in the general curriculum. These services include but are not limited to speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, remedial reading/math, and school counseling.
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What is the focus of Green Woods Curriculum?
Green Woods Charter School uses an approach to teaching and learning known as EIC, which stands for using the Environment as an Integrated Context for learning. We are a science-based school. Our students also spend time outdoors in all kinds of weather immersed in learning experiences that expand their knowledge base while having them actively engaged in observing, questioning, and discovering how the environment works.
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What kind of student would enjoy learning at Green Woods?
Green Woods does not discriminate in our admissions policy; however, charter schools offer parents the rare opportunity for school choice and so we do strongly encourage parents applying to Green Woods to please consider the structure in which your child learns best and choose the best school to meet his/her learning style. In addition, there are many potential allergy triggers that exist through seasonal changes in the outdoors. We do spend time outdoors as our mission includes our long-term goal to create active young stewards of the natural world. We have a rigorous academic program and high expectations for academics and behavior. All students are required to work hard, take part in all aspects of our curriculum, behave well, and achieve success.
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