Alger Learning Center
121 Alder Dr.
Sedro Woolley, WA 98284
1-800-595-2630, orion@nas.com, www.independent-learning.com
Thank you for your interest in our Satellite School Program. We feel that this is an exciting opportunity
for creative teachers to have their own schools that support independent
learning, homeschooling, unschooling, and life-long learning. We find that teachers are happier people,
too, when they can successfully empower students to be truly self-directed.
The Alger Learning Center & Independence High School has been facilitating student-centered learning for twenty-five years. We have a local day program, a distance learning program, a homeschool and unschool regognition "umbrella" program, and various satellite schools.
Our satellite program has been very successful. We currently have five satellite school partnerships throughout the United States, as well as two satellite schools in Japan and several partnerships in China.
We feel that part of our success is due to allowing teachers the
freedom to have a different relationship with students than the traditional
style and model of public schools. Teachers in our satellite schools, working
with individualized instruction, provide students many optional ways of
learning, and numerous choices in curriculum. The freedom of choice in ways to
learn is essential for motivation and self-direction. As educator/author John Holt said, teachers should be more like travel agents, helping students reach
their own self-determined destinations.
The function of the Satellite School is to help students and
families design and select curriculum, monitor and document the time and
quality of learning, along with offering support and tutoring, while
encouraging independent learning. Our
teachers carefully interview students to learn about their interests and
goals. They facilitate diagnostic
testing (standardized or informal). By
understanding the student's goals, interests, skill levels and learning styles,
our teachers are able to customize curriculum for the individual student in
order for the student to have a successful learning experience. Alger Learning Center & Independence High
School teachers are sensitive to each student's self esteem, and work to enable them
to become self-confident, self-reliant and happy learners.
Our satellite school program is designed for teachers who are dedicated,
creative, flexible, and totally student-centered, but who also may be
disenchanted, disappointed, or philosophically at odds with a compulsory,
overcrowded, curriculum-based and overstructured learning environment.
Our teacher training program (or untraining program, as we like to
refer to it) is an ongoing process. We
expect our ALC teachers to become completely familiar with the homeschooling
laws and educational guidelines in their individual states. We also hope that
our teachers are familiar with the work and writings of such authors as John
Holt, Frank Smith, John Taylor Gatto, and Thomas Armstrong, and the learning model
of A.S. Neill's Summerhill.
While we encourage our satellite school teachers to explore interdisciplinary education and the philosophy of freedom in learning, we do not require satellite schools to conform to any specific philosophy or model of learning. We like our teachers to have the same freedom of choice that we extend to students. If you are not interested in homeschooling or unschooling, but would like to learn more about setting up your own satellite school, please feel free to contact us.
Your first step in starting your own Satellite School is to call
and set up a telephone interview (1-800-595-2630). If you are in our local
area, we would like an opportunity to meet you for an interview (call
360-595-2630). Teachers will need to
submit a resume (which can be done on-line, at orion@nas.com). Additional background information will be
required.
Regards,
John Lackey, Director