{"id":9316,"date":"2020-06-14T05:24:07","date_gmt":"2020-06-14T05:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.vsb.bc.ca\/heritage\/?p=9316"},"modified":"2020-07-05T05:53:31","modified_gmt":"2020-07-05T05:53:31","slug":"city-school-draft-june-6-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vsb.bc.ca\/heritage\/2020\/06\/14\/city-school-draft-june-6-14\/","title":{"rendered":"City School – A History"},"content":{"rendered":"

CITY SCHOOL – A HISTORY<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Sal Robinson<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Beginnings<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In the latter half of the 1960s, with independent alternative schools on the increase, the Vancouver School District began offering differently structured programs at some elementary schools (\u201cMajor Works\u201d classes in 1966) and in some secondary schools (\u201cIntegrated Programme\u201d at Point Grey and \u201dS.E.L.F.\u201d at Prince of Wales and Lord Byng in 1968).[1]<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first stand-alone public alternative school in Vancouver would be City School, the brainchild of Dr. Alf Clinton, VSB\u2019s Director of Education. What follows is the proposal he presented to the trustees.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Proposal For An Ungraded Continuous Progress School (City School)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The City School Project is designed for students whose educational growth requires experiences beyond those to be found within existing school programs. These students, ranging in age from 10 to 15 years, will come from all the city\u2019s attendance areas; each will enter the program voluntarily.\u00a0 Similar projects have been successfully implemented in other urban areas with two of the more notable being the Metropolitan Learning Centre, Portland and the Parkway Program, Philadelphia.\u00a0 Following is an outline of the project\u2019s aims and method of operation, designed to facilitate planning for its implementation in September, 1971:<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Aims for Students<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All students have a need to gain experience in making real decisions affecting their lives and in learning to cope with the frustrations of life in the world outside the classroom.\u00a0 In City School each student \u2013 in consultation with staff member, other students, parents and community resource people \u2013 will design, carry out and evaluate his own learning program.\u00a0 The entire resources of the metropolitan area will be considered potential for the learner to create a meaningful program to meet his own needs. For many this will not be an easy process. However, by having to decide what he wants to learn, through finding out how and where this can be done, by sharing his experiences with others, and by evaluation of his efforts, each learner should develop habits and skills which may better enable him to continue learning throughout life.\u00a0 The City School experience is designed to develop a healthy sense of responsibility for one\u2019s actions and for the community through active involvement in it.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Aims of Curriculum<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The curriculum will focus on the development of a sound General Education program.\u00a0 The objectives of this program will be to provide students with a base of knowledge that is useful in life; to help them see relationships between events and the contemporary world, and to provide them with the skills to identify and solve problems confronting them, now and in the future.\u00a0 Within the framework of this General Education program, students will be helped to gain proficiency in the communication and computational skills.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The program will offer an ungraded, interdisciplinary approach designed to give students the core content of required courses in English, social studies, mathematics, science, physical education and the arts.\u00a0 This approach will be radically different from that practised in conventional classrooms, and will cut across traditional grade barriers which will enable greater articulation between all age levels. For example, rather than engaging in systematic study of the various disciplines, the student will focus on the solution of problems more relevant to his needs. To solve these problems, teachers and students will plan together and the curriculum will be developed through emphasis on the learning process rather than the teaching act.\u00a0 Also this emphasis will enable older students to work with younger students.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Method of Operation<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Enrolment of no more than 100 students is planned for the first year of operation of the school.\u00a0 Later it is anticipated that the enrollment will increase to a limit of approximately 150 students, K \u2013 12.\u00a0 The staff \u2013 a team of four teachers \u2013 will function under the coordination of a VSB Education Department official who will be responsible for carrying out overall policy and evaluation of the program.\u00a0 Policy within the project will be determined through interaction among students, staff, parents and community participants.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While much of the education will occur throughout the community, a central base is required.\u00a0 Edith Cavell Annex is recommended as this base, because of its proximity to the business and cultural heart of Vancouver and its central location for transportation purposes.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The regulations of City School will be simple.\u00a0 Students will be asked to work together congenially, to follow agreed procedures of daily accountability in developing and working out their individual programs, to record and evaluate their learning experiences and to attend on a regular basis.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Clinton\u2019s proposal was accepted and by June of 1971, local newspapers were providing publicity with articles headlined, \u201cUngraded school for city scheduled to open in fall<\/em>\u201d[2]<\/a>\u00a0 and \u201cNew school strides into the future: Student participation comes to Vancouver<\/em>\u201d[3]<\/a>.\u00a0 Advertisements directed interested parents to get brochures from their local school.\u00a0 More articles appeared in the summer: \u201cExperimenting in school<\/em>\u201d[4]<\/a> termed City School \u201ca bold innovation\u201d that might sound \u201cway out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

from June 12, 1971, The Vancouver Sun<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Part I\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0 September 1971 to June 1974<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

City School opened on September 7 and was in the media cross-hairs the next morning.\u00a0 An editorial titled \u201cBack to school, with a difference<\/em>\u2026\u201d cautioned,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMention of free schools may strike fear into the hearts of many, perhaps most, parents who may see visions of their children turning out vacuous, unmotivated ne\u2019er-do-wells and misfits. And there is the legitimate fear that educational experiments may leave those taking part in them worse off than if they\u2019d been given the standard schooling.\u201d[5]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A much more positive picture was painted later in the month when reporter Wilf Bennett visited City School in the former Edith Cavell Annex at 550 West 10th<\/sup> Avenue and wrote about what he found.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe city\u2019s newest school \u00ad\u2013 simply called City School \u2013 has no principal, no regular classes, no exams, no formal structure of any kind.\u00a0 Since it opened on Sept. 7 the 100 students have decided each morning what they want to do during the day. Suggestions come from the pupils themselves and from the school\u2019s four co-equal teachers.\u00a0 The day\u2019s options are outlined on a big blackboard in the entry hall and the youngsters then decide which they will follow for the day.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Bennett described some of the activities:\u00a0 studying poetry, collecting science specimens and making art in Little Mountain Park; cooking and eating a chicken and inspecting its head preserved in formaldehyde; touring VGH; visiting a veterinary clinic and watching an operation on a dog. He also commented on the students.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe children are prolific with the flood of ideas about things they want to see and learn about, the teachers say.\u00a0 What children attend City School?\u00a0 The 100 come from all parts of Vancouver drawn by lot from nearly 200 who applied to attend it rather than their own neighbourhood schools.\u201d[6]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

City School was established with students aged 10 to 15 and the intention of expanding to include the primary grades while advancing the initial group \u2013 and taking on more senior students \u2013 through to Grade 12.\u00a0 The expansion to include younger children never formally happened, though the enrolment as of September 30, 1972 showed a girl in Grade 1 and a boy in Grade 3, along with 87 more students ranging from Grade 4 to 11. By the end of City School\u2019s second year, the VSB was advertising that \u201cAbout 25 places will be available this September for Vancouver students usually in Grades 4 to 12 to enroll at City School.\u201d[7]<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This advertising was referenced in a brief from City School parents to the Board of School Trustees in June 1973, in which they outlined the scant planning, support and resources with which the staff were expected to provide an alternative to the mainstream. They described the \u201cconsiderable limitations\u201d placed on City School\u2019s proper functioning:<\/span><\/p>\n