ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 12, 1996 TAG: 9611120085
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
ITS ENROLLMENT is now 140, double the number of its early days. No class is larger than 14 students.
Ask Sarah Sachs why she likes Community School, and the words come quickly.
"We learn by doing. Here we have small classes, and we get individual attention from our teachers," said Sarah, a middle-school student. "We do lots of things outdoors, and we learn about nature."
Sarah, 12, went to a public elementary school for four years before she came to the private school in Roanoke County near Hollins College. "It was awful. It was overcrowded, and the teachers gave you lots of work sheets. The classes were large."
Twelve-year-old Maya Chapman shares her friend's feelings about Community School. She said it has an atmosphere of freedom that did not exist in the public elementary school she attended for three years.
"We get more free time here, and we get to go on field trips. You don't feel cramped up," she said.
Community School is different in other ways, too.
The students don't get grades or report cards. In classes, they are grouped by developmental level, not by age or grades. They are not held back or pushed forward by an arbitrary grade placement. They proceed at their own pace.
The school tries to teach children how to think and learn on their own rather than by memorizing a body of knowledge and "learning how to jump through certain hoops,' said Linda Thornton, education director.
When Community was started on the old Green Hill Country Club property near Salem at the height of the alternative school movement in 1971, some skeptics questioned its educational methods and philosophy. Some doubted it would survive.
During the past quarter-century, conservative and traditional approaches in education have experienced a resurgence, and many alternative schools have folded.
Not Community School. It has an enrollment of 140, double the number of its early days. The school could grow to 200 to 250 students, Thornton said.
The school has "gained credibility and respect" among educators, she said, although many Roanoke Valley residents still know it mainly for its fund-raising Strawberry Festival in downtown Roanoke each May.
On Monday, Community celebrated its 25th anniversary with a luncheon for parents and a birthday cake for students. The children demonstrated their language skills by singing "Happy Birthday" in Spanish and then in English. The school's curriculum includes Spanish for all students.
Despite near-freezing temperatures, students lined up to get a piece of cake in a festive atmosphere. Sarah Cohen and Katy France, both 6, were at the head of the line that snaked up the hill on the property that is rented from Hollins.
Community School moved from Green Hill in 1975. Its main campus includes three buildings, formerly used as Hollins housing, on six wooded acres across U.S. 11 from the entrance to the college. It has a preschool program in a building on the Hollins campus and a middle school in another nearby building.
In addition to the preschool, elementary and middle school programs, Community has an extended studies program for high-school age students. It's an independent study program that combines home schooling and college-level courses, Thornton said.
Community features small classes in which older students sometimes help younger children. No classes have more than 14 pupils.
Ginny Weiss, who had two children attend Community School during its early days, said it was founded because parents wanted an educational environment featuring smaller classes and more individual attention for students with less stress and less emphasis on rote learning.
"I was looking for a more humane environment where children were treated with more respect," said Weiss, who later became an administrative assistant at the school and held other positions before retiring two years ago.
The late Burt Levine, a radio pioneer and community leader in Roanoke, and David Nickerson, a former assistant headmaster at North Cross private school, were two leading founders of Community School.
Weiss said the school had some difficult times during its first two or three years.
"It was a community thing. The parents were involved, and everybody had their own vision," she said. "People felt strongly, and there were some divisive things."
Thornton, who has been affiliated with the school in some capacity almost from the beginning, said it took about 10 years for Community to gain credibility. She was a Hollins student majoring in English when the school was founded.
Thornton said Community has survived because it has had many benefactors over the years, including the late John W. Hancock, a businessman and community leader. Hancock made financial contributions to the school, and his connections with Virginia Tech helped make it possible for Tech students to work as interns at Community, she said. Community's teachers also were able to attend Tech for graduate studies, she said.
Thornton said parents also have helped Community thrive. Parents play a major role in the school's operations, helping with fund raising, accompanying students on field trips and sometimes helping out in the classroom. Some also serve on the school's board of trustees.
Hollins College has contributed immensely to the school's success, she said. Many children of Hollins professors attend the school, she said.
"The college has always been very kind to us - a wonderful benefactor."
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL\Staff. Community School students Sarah Cohenby CNB(left) and Katy France, both 6, were first in line for cake at the
school's 25th anniversary celebration Monday. Despite near-freezing
temperatures, the atmosphere was festive. color.