|
|
Substitutes Wanted!We are looking to hire more substitutes, so please contact us if you are interested in applying!
Other Positions
Our intern, full-time, and part-time positions for the 2008-2009 school year have been filled, but please let us know if you are interested in applying for one of the 2009-2010 internship positions.
Interns will participate in a teacher preparation program which will include:
- Earning a teaching license through the Colorado Department of Education's Alternative Licensure Program
(a Statement of Eligibility is required from the CDE before the practicum can begin, and this
process can take some time so it's best to start early. For details on this please contact Susan House at house@ecentral.com)
- An optional Master’s degree program through the University of Colorado at Denver
- A teaching practicum at The Patchwork School with hands-on experience in the classroom four days a week with a mentor teacher
The Patchwork School will provide funds towards tuition and a stipend.
Please contact us if you are interested in applying!
|
|
|
Michele Beach - Teacher/Director
I am very excited to be starting a school! As a parent myself I know how difficult it can be to decide where to start sending your child to school. In fact the first time my husband and I discussed possibilities for our son’s education I was shocked when he suggested we should consider home-schooling. I had a wonderful experience in public schools and just assumed that my children would do the same, so I was surprised to hear that he thought it might not be the best approach. Since that conversation I have learned a great deal about the current state of our public schools and about the many other options available, including home schooling, unschooling, freeschooling, etc. In addition, I now understand how much children can learn by experiencing the world directly and through relationships with others. This knowledge, along with my recent teaching and parenting experiences, has led me to believe that I can help provide children, including my own, with an educational environment that I can feel good about.
Background
I am a Colorado native, living in Aurora, Englewood, and Greenwood Village, and graduating from Cherry Creek High School. I attended college at Stanford University and graduated in 2000 with a degree in Computer Science. Afterwards, I returned to Colorado and worked at Level 3 Communications in Broomfield as a Software Developer for four years. I met my husband, Dave, at work and we were married in 2002. Then in 2004 our son, Cameron was born, at which time I quit working to stay home with him. After being a stay-at-home mom for two years I became interested in possibly doing home daycare. I had always loved working with children, doing lots of nannying and babysitting throughout high school and even into college. However, after looking into the regulations for a home daycare I decided that I wanted to offer more than just a safe place to play – I wanted to provide an environment that would promote learning. That is when I found Boulder Journey School and immediately fell in love with the philosophy. In August of 2006, Cameron started attending the school part-time and I began working there with three- and four-year-olds. In August of 2007 I completed their teacher preparation program, earning aMaster’s Degree in Educational Psychology from CU Denver as well as a Teaching License in Early Childhood Education. My experience at The Patchwork School this past year has further intensified my beliefs in the importance of a child-directed early childhood setting. I am very exicted about our expansion plans for next year, and feel so fortunate to be working with such a wonderful group of parents and children!
|
Elizabeth Baker - Teacher/Director
Starting a school has been a goal of mine for about as long as I've been interested in education. My own educational background is unique, as I was homeschooled for 11 years before I attended college. From the perspective of a homeschooler I can say that the world feels very small when it holds only one's family and just a few others. In some ways, this is good, because it keeps the scope of vision narrow, affording focus and time for thought. However, once I left home for college, I realized that it is very hard to maintain depth or variation in thought (and therefore in character) without exposure to different ideas, opinions, beliefs and people. Since graduating from homeschooling, I have been delighted by the vastness of the world and awed by my place in all of it. Starting a school is one way for me to practice what I claim to value, that is depth rather than breadth, critical thinking rather than fact acquisition, freedom to be rather than obligation to perform and an authentic life, full of bumbling along and being surprised by who we are when we are allowed to be.
Background
A native of Colorado, I was homeschooled in Grand Junction, attended the Colorado College in Colorado Springs and now reside on the Front Range, where I happily live in the foothills. However, after graduating college in May 2003, with a degree in Philosophy and Education, I moved across the states for some East Coast experience and a chance to teach as an intern at the Albany Free School in Albany, New York. Drawn by the school's unique approach to education, I committed myself to learning as much as possible from the veteran free-school teachers I would encounter. After my internship, I continued my own education on education by traveling abroad for 4 months to India, the United Arab Emirates and New Zealand. In India I attended the 10 day International Democratic Education Conference held in Bhubaneswar. Then, in the UAE I presented on the world freeschool movement to a class of political philosophy students at the American University of Sharjah. Finally, in New Zealand I volunteer-taught at a free school in Christchurch called Tamariki. While co-teaching in NZ, I fell in love with my long-time friend Brennen, who has been my partner ever since. After NZ, we moved to Colorado, where I found a job nannying while I applied to graduate programs in Education. After finding the Teacher Education Program at the Boulder Journey School I decided to stay in Colorado to earn my Masters degree and teaching license, while learning about an educational approach I had only really heard about: Reggio Emilia. I graduates from the program in August of 2007, earning a Master's Degree in Educational Psychology and a Teaching License in Early Childhood Education.
|
|
|
