Charter school succeeds with multi-aged classrooms

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU -- Unlike most elementary and middle-school teachers in the Mat-Su School District, Jeanne Troshynski has taught many of the same students for nearly seven years.

The students haven't failed or been held back; they've just never had a reason to move out of her classroom.

Troshynski teaches at Midnight Sun Family Learning Center, a charter school for 166 students, from kindergarten to eighth grade. The school is built around the idea of multi-aged classrooms, where younger and older students learn together in the same room, oftentimes studying the same subjects. Troshynski is one of five teachers at the school who teach grades two through eight, all in one room.

"They end up learning the expectations of the teacher and I don't have to get to know all new students at the beginning of the year," Troshynski said. "The older kids help the newer kids out and it creates a community of learners."

Troshynski believes that spending multiple years with the same kids has made her a more effective teacher, because she learns the strengths and weaknesses of her students and they learn what to expect from her.

Parents also play a crucial role at the school. Unlike larger schools in the district, parents at MSFLC agree to provide transportation for their kids and pick them up from school if there are discipline problems.

"Parent involvement makes the difference here," Troshynski said. "We rarely have problems because kids know exactly what will happen. There's no sitting around in hallways here."

Parents also agree to volunteer at the school for five hours a month and work with children on homework assignments. If students get sick, parents are expected to pick them up from school because there is no school nurse.

In addition to these duties, many parents also volunteer to help with maintenance, snowplowing, vacuuming and dusting.

"We are all responsible to make things happen around here," Troshynski said.

Right in line with that idea is the fact that the school doesn't believe in having a principal. Instead, each teacher takes a turn being "teacher in charge," thereby sharing administrative responsibilities.

If test results and academic awards are any gauge, the community approach to education seems to work.

Since the school's conception, it has passed federal No Child Left Behind standards, while dominating districtwide Battle of the Books competitions. Since 1997, the school has won first place in at least one grade level every year in that contest. Last year it won first place in grades three, four, seven and eight, with older kids often working with their younger counterparts to help strategize and prepare for the competitions.

One of the tenets of the school is to always teach up, meaning second-graders are exposed to many of the same subjects as eighth-graders. On certain subjects like math and spelling, the class is broken into smaller groups, with help from classroom aides and volunteer parents.

With all the volunteer workers, the school is able to invest considerable money in technology and every student, from grades two through eight, has a computer at his or her desk.

"The whole idea is that we run this school collaboratively," Troshynski said. "It really makes the school more effective."

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.