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Beliefs

The Irvington Community School believes that:

  1. Higher expectations lead to higher accomplishments.
  2. All children are capable of learning and a school should challenge each of them, no matter their race, sex, or economic circumstances.
  3. Values and character are integral components of education and should begin with students following the Golden Rule in respecting each other, themselves, and their teachers.
  4. Students must master a comprehensive and challenging curriculum that covers the core disciplines of English, Math, Science, and History, a curriculum that also recognizes that arts and physical education are crucial components of a well-rounded education and a well-rounded life.
  5. A school must constantly measure its progress through independent, objective measures, and then apply appropriate rewards and consequences.
  6. Schools must work to continually improve.
  7. Parents must be involved in their children's educational progress through regular meetings and via communications that emphasize convenience and dialogue.
  8. Schools must seek out and use parents' talents and creativity.
  9. While social, moral, and other aspects of a school's environment are important, a school's right to exist must rest on the fundamental notion that it is improving the academic performance of its children.
  10. A curriculum should give students the "cultural capital" they need to succeed in life.
  11. Students should be able to meet minimum standards yet grow at their own educational pace and in their own individual style whenever possible. The school's working environment should be collegiate and encouraging.
  12. The lead teacher must be free to concentrate on the classrooms.
  13. Schools should utilize best business practices whenever possible.
  14. While a school's discipline code must incorporate high expectations and well-constructed rules, it must go further, with a positive and constructive system that helps students develop a sense of individual responsibility and accountability to their classmates and teachers.
  15. Corporal punishment has no place in a well-run school.
  16. Curricula must be interdisciplinary and higher level, including fluency, flexibility, and creativity.
  17. Community resources should be used whenever possible, both to avoid recreating what already exists but also to strengthen the school's community ties.
  18. A school must be fiscally responsible, with a strong financial reporting system and regular audits.