| What is the Orme School Center for Teaching and Learning?
The Orme School's new Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) focuses on achieving excellence in all areas of college preparatory education, in and out of the classroom.
The CTL maximizes academic opportunities for Orme students by establishing integrated curricula with a meaningful academic philosophy, fostering faculty development and mentorship, implementing customized academic assessment, seeking out and securing resources that continually improve teaching and learning on campus, and establishing strategic partnerships that broaden Orme's educational influence and deepen our academic yield---locally, statewide, and beyond.
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The
CTL is primarily responsible for the academic advancement of the Orme
School, providing strategic and systematic direction on three fronts:
- For
students, the CTL identifies individual learning styles and promotes
effective study habits, as well as centralizes academic communication
between the school and parents.
- For
faculty, the CTL provides professional development opportunities and
resources that encourage best teaching practices in the classroom.
- For
the whole school, the CTL directs institutional academic advancement by
searching out and allying with other schools and educational
institutions for mutually beneficial educational relationships.
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Why restructure academics at Orme?
The
CTL maximizes academic opportunities by articulating a holistic academic
identity of the Orme School, one that embeds Orme's educational philosophies
and classroom activities in the 21st century. Rather than a complete
restructuring of curriculum, the CTL directs efforts to continue success in
those areas in which we already excel, and promotes new academic opportunities
with a sense of renewed focus on excellence.
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How does the CTL improve students' academic experience
at Orme?
Ultimately,
it is of course Orme students who reap the benefit of teachers who excel in all
areas of educational performance. The CTL is a student gathering place whose
focus is education: tutoring, homework help, organizational strategies, a
student-run Writing Center, and computer kiosks for last-minute research and
communication.
It
has been truly exciting to see the Center materialize this year. The physical
space of the CTL is still developing, but has shaped up to include the following connected
rooms in the Phillips Library. The Academic Resource Study is the heart of the
new CTL. Shelved here are both student and faculty resources catalogued through
the library, circulated internally. Staffed by faculty each class period, this
is a dynamic study area for students who benefit from supervised study during
the academic day as well as a drop-in study space in general. The CTL Lounge
provides a comfortable space conducive to group and individual study. The
Tutoring and Writing Center will house peer-to-peer tutoring and writing help.
Learning Commons is the large room in Old Main, furnished with many tables for
students, providing a drop-in spot for study and student laptop use throughout
the day and supervised study hall in the evenings.
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