CENTRAL’S MISSION
Our mission is to capitalize on the multiple learning styles of children and utilize instructional practices that allow children to grow in their sense of purpose within our diverse and changing world. We strive to nurture the cognitive, physical and social growth of all children by instilling wonder and excitement in the world of learning. Interested in learning more?

WHAT IS DIFFERENT WAYS OF KNOWING (DWOK)?

Different Ways of Knowing is…

• A philosophy that believes children learn in different ways.
• A philosophy that drives instruction.
• A philosophy that uses the arts in a powerful way to enhance learning in core academic classes such as reading and math.
• A philosophy that believes that teachers should use different strategies and provide many different opportunities for children to learn in many different ways.
• A philosophy that believes that every child has the potential for greatness and the entire school must reflect actions that nurture that greatness.
• The arts are used to access student knowledge, and deepen student knowledge. (The cognitive processes affected include: attention, perception, rehearsal, encoding, and retrieval.

WHY DID CENTRAL CHOOSE THIS MODEL?

Bemidji State University faculty, parents, Central staff, community representatives, district administrator and Indian Education representatives were all stakeholders in this process. They desired to make a significant change that would give Central staff further training for meeting the needs of the diverse students at Central school. We wanted our instructional practices to reflect that we value individual learning styles.

WHAT ARE THE IDEAS FOR BUILDING A COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP?

Central School will begin building supportive community participation through the implementation of a volunteer program beginning in the fall 2003. The program is called B.E.S.T. Bemidji Educating Students Together. The program will be modeled after the Hamline University/Hancock Collaborative School in St. Paul.