What is a Charter School?
How was the Green Woods Charter
School formed?
What is the grade stucture and
current enrollment of the school?
Is there transportation provided
to students?
Are there school uniforms?
Does Green Woods provide school lunch?
What is the length of the school
day?
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 a Charter
School?
Charter Schools are public schools. They are funded by tax dollars from the PA Department of Education to the chartering district. 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 students are being taught a standards-based curriculum by qualified teachers. Charter schools are self-managed, public schools but must function within the guidelines of Charter School Law established by the State of Pennsylvania. This law establishes that the Board of Trustees is the governing body of a charter school and is responsible for the fiscal management, oversight, and governance of all school operations and administrative personnel.
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How was
the Green Woods Charter School formed?
Green Woods was founded by small group of local parents who collaborated with experts in the community with the goal of creating a unique and innovative educational experience for their own children and the children of Philadelphia. Today, two hundred students in grades K-8 attend Green Woods where they enjoy a socially and emotionally supportive environment and learn, through a sound academic content base, how their everyday lives revolve around the use of the natural world.
Green Woods is now in its 7th year of operation. Our charter was recently renewed for another five years. We have achieved AYP each year; been awarded "Exemplary Status" for our curriculum; awarded the 2007 Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence and, in 2008 we were presented with a “Best Practices Award” from the School District of Philadelphia. These awards indicate the level of exemplary teaching and learning that is happening each day here at Green Woods.
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What is
the grade structure and current enrollment of the school?
Green Woods currently serves approximately 200 students in grades K through 8. Currently we have one class per grade.
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Is
there transportation provided to students?
Green Woods students in grades 1 through 8 will receive transportation to and from school through the School District of Philadelphia. Transportation services are not provided for kindergarten students.
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Are there
school uniforms?
Green Woods students are required to wear school uniforms which consist of a hunter green polo shirt and khaki pants or skirt. Please see the student handbook for a full explanation of our dress code.
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Does Green Woods
provide school lunch?
Green Woods does not serve lunch.
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What is the length
of the school day?
Our school day begins at 8:15 and ends at 3:15. Parents may begin dropping off students at 7:55.
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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.
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Where
can I find the GWCS Parent/Student Handbook and Discipline Policy?
 You
can download the GWCS Parent/Student Handbook and Discipline Policy.
Back to the Top Does Green Woods provide Special Education Services and, if so, what services does it provide?
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 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, and counseling.
Green Woods Charter School Child Find Policy
Policy and Procedures for Students with Disabilities
Green Woods Charter School will ensure that all students with disabilities who are eligible to enroll in the school will have available to them free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. The rights of children with disabilities and their parents will be protected in accordance with federal laws.
As part of this child find responsibility, GWCS seeks to ensure that all students with disabilities who are eligible to enroll in the school are identified, located and evaluated. This child find responsibility shall be accomplished through a process which, while not a definitive or final judgment of a student's capabilities or disability, is a possible indicator of special education needs.
The child find process shall include obtaining data on each student, through direct assessment or by indirect means of the student's academic performance, gross and fine motor skills, receptive and expressive language skills, vision, hearing and cognitive skills.
School staff, parents or agency representatives may refer students to the multi-disciplinary team if they believe that the student, because of a disability, may be in need of special education and supportive services in order to benefit from regular education. SCSC shall ensure that an appropriately certified school psychologist participates in the initial evaluation and all subsequent re-evaluations of the student.
Final identification of students with disabilities and programming for such students occurs only after an appropriate evaluation and a determination by the multi-disciplinary team. If it is determined that the child requires special education and supportive services in order to benefit from regular education, an Individual Education Plan shall be developed for the student in accordance with federal law.
If you know someone or have a child with a disability
who may be in need of special education and related
services, you can initiate a referral through the school
by contacting Melinda Coughlin, Special Education Coordinator,
at (215) 482-2679 or mcoughlin@greenwoodscharter.org.
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