A Small Charter School Wants to Nurture Multiple Intelligences

A new Charter School in the Chula Vista or Eastlake area is hoping to open its doors in the 2010-2011 school-year.

A charter school is a Free Public school that is usually funded partly by the local school district.  The school will be submitting its charter application to the Chula Vista Elementary School District by December.

Howard Gardner Community Charter is named after the well-known author and Professor of Education at Harvard University who wrote the book, Multiple Intelligences, which is what the school’s educational philosophy, is all about.

Shannon Richardson, a School Psychologist within the Chula Vista Elementary School District and Sue Black, a Resource Specialist for CVESD came together because they saw a need within the local schools.  They saw that gifted children, those with learning disabilities and some with emotional or behavioral difficulties often have unique gifts, talents or sparks of genius that go unrecognized at a traditional school because of their emphasis on standardized tests that only measure math and language skills. Howard Gardner’s theory emphasizes multiple intelligences such as those possessed by Musicians, Artists, and even Athletes and HGCC’s intention is to recognize and nurture these talents. They see the overcrowding of schools in the district as an additional issue, as often students do not get the individualized attention they require at big schools.

One exciting aspect that the founding members had the privilege to experience when coming up with the name of the charter school was when they were able to contact Howard Gardner himself.  Dr. Gardner explained to them that, although we did not need his permission to name the school after him, he was happy to give his permission anyway and he was quite interested in the school and it’s opening.

HGCC will be open to any student who lives within the Chula Vista Elementary school district, as well as other nearby districts if there is room.   Enrollment will be based on a first come first serve basis in the initial stages of its application processes and the school intends to limit its enrollment to about 150-200 students for the first year.  It will service all children and will not deny any child who applies, even those with special needs as long as there is space.

A meeting is going to be held on November 6th at the Salt Creek Recreation Center at 2710 Otay Lakes Rd at 1:30 pm.  The meeting will give a chance for parents to ask questions about the school as well as be put on the list for enrollment.

For further information visit them on facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gardner-Community-Charter-School/117132431676399

or send an e-mail to [email protected].

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Posted by Eastlaketimes on Oct 28 2010. Filed under Community of Eastlake, Eastlake News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry