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Thank you for your interest in the Center for Teaching & Learning and for visiting our website. CTL is a unique school founded by educators on best practices in the field of education. Our vision is that we instill a love of learning in each child every day across the school day. 

 

At CTL we acknowledge that all children are born with a love of learning that involves discovery, curiosity, creativity, persistence, and resilience. One of the most fun things I do is observe and engage with PreK children each day at lunch recess. I am always amazed by their curiosity and creativity. A stem of flowers becomes the dusting wand to clean all their surroundings, an old toy box turned on its side becomes a doctor’s office, a small discarded white dry erase board becomes the appointment book, pine needles in an upside-down construction cone become ice cream, a long mark in the pine needles becomes a tornado, or a hurricane or an earthquake. One day the playhouse is a nail salon, one day a beauty shop, one day a restaurant. Children are born with this gift. Our job is to keep it alive from grade to grade, and that is our goal at CTL.

 

Hanging above my desk at eye-level where I can see it each time I sit down is a framed copy of CTL’s Vision and Mission Statement. A duplicate also hangs in each classroom, in the hallway and in the front office as a reminder to all who play a part in what we call school each day. They are in our handbooks and are reviewed at our PD meetings on Fridays and in our Board meetings. They keep us grounded. They are our foundation and our roadmap. We will never lose sight of what we are about!  

We have built and continue to protect that vision and mission and maintain a culture here at CTL where our children are safe physically, social, and emotionally so that love of learning can continue to grow. Through a culture of kindness, of acceptance, of love, and of mutual respect, they gain confidence and blossom. They belong to a family—the CTL family. We recognize that all are gifted in their own unique ways. Our mission is to help them discover and respect their own uniqueness and giftedness and to honor and respect the uniqueness and giftedness of others. In this positive environment they are free to learn alone or alongside others in a spirit of collaboration and not competition, a space where mistakes are not bad but are learning opportunities. 

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