Independent School Named Expeditionary School at Black River

Originally Published 2/1/21

LUDLOW, Vt. – Despite the turbulence of 2020,  the Black River Independent School Committee remains committed to  strengthening the Ludlow community, educationally and beyond. In a year  marked by catastrophic wildfires, a global pandemic, historic job  losses, and a national reckoning with systemic racism, BRISC’s vision  for economic vitality offers an emerging model for how to redesign the  relationship between local schools, the business community, and  taxpayers. Now, with 2021 upon us, the highlights of our first semester  are noteworthy.

We opened our doors tuition-free to 16 students Sept. 8, 2020.  Offering a flexible culture of learning, we have remained fully open  Monday through Friday. As our school has evolved with these times, so  has our name, and so has our desired impact. From the onset, the  curriculum placed an emphasis on respecting a wide variety of cultures,  religions, languages, and the challenges of socioeconomic diversity.  Continuing with an acronym that references a specific religious ceremony  is counterintuitive. It undermines our purpose.

We are excited to announce that our second semester will include  marketing and branding our revised name: Expeditionary School at Black  River.

In time, it is our intention to be referred to as “Black River.” This  will be a key feature of how our long-term business plan aims to scale  an ecosystem of flexible learning across the state, and possibly the  nation. The positivity of our first four months reminds us that the  foundation to do so is solid. We have signed agreements with Black River  Innovation Campus in Springfield and Castleton University’s the Center  for Schools in Rutland. We are collaborating with Okemo Valley TV right  here in Ludlow to capture students’ participation in National History  Day’s “Communication in History: Key to Understanding” project. Through  these partnerships, we are developing a network that can help balance  the demand for enhancing student’s technological skills with a need to  simultaneously keep them connected to the natural environment.

We are keenly aware of how the coronavirus is creating a world that  is dependent on access to the Internet. In light of this reality, we are  embracing the expedition of finding ways to facilitate learning  opportunities where students must unplug from electronic devices. This  past semester students participated in a rock climbing and canoeing  excursion at the Chittenden Reservoir. With the help of the Book Nook  here in Ludlow, we’ve purchased paper copies of Laurie Hulse Anderson’s  “Seeds of America” trilogy. To strengthen our curriculum’s alignment  with the Next Generation Science Standards, we are initiating  partnerships with Vermont Institute for Natural Sciences and the Lake  Champlain Maritime Museum, programming that we hope to make available by  summer 2021. And, we are thrilled to accept the donation of a piano.  Our interrelated approach to curriculum design allows us to weave music  lessons into our teaching of the writing process.

To date, curriculum development and strategic plans have been  influenced by EL Education’s approach to school improvement. The EL  stands for Expeditionary Learning. This framework was first introduced  30 years ago via a partnership between Harvard Graduate School of  Education and Outward Bound. Influenced by this philosophy, our  organizational design is also anchored in the policy expectations put  forth by Vermont’s Agency of Education in the mandates known as  Educational Quality Standards (2015) and Act 77: Flexible Pathways to  Secondary School Completion (2013). Both of which are still intact  today.

At its core, expeditionary means “a journey or excursion undertaken  for a specific purpose.” The second half of its definition conveys a  commitment to “efficient promptness.” Initially, BRISC was established  to maintain the presence of a cost-effective school in the heart of  Ludlow. In response to the fiscal challenges created by Covid-19, with  this revised nomenclature, the Expeditionary School at Black River’s  approach intends to promptly respond to the needs of working parents and  guardians as well local business owners during the remainder of and  post-Covid. We opened in spite of the complications presented by this  pandemic. As a result, we are well positioned to serve as a solution to  the difficult lessons garnered from the rapid scaling of “remote  learning.” Communities like ours cannot afford to do otherwise.

In the weeks following this announcement, we will be rolling out the  details of a member loan program. In order to remain open next year and  beyond, ESBR needs to secure investors. Thanks to the entrepreneurial  mindset of the members of BRISC, we have a chance to coordinate a  renewed approach to funding local schools, doing so is more likely to  safeguard an affordable lifestyle for all Vermonters.

Please feel welcome to get in touch with me at krickerby@esblackriver.org.  Working together we are more likely to ensure that a renewed approach  to operating a community’s school can also create many positive new  beginnings for students, their families, and the local workforce.

Written by Kendra Rickerby, Ph.D., Interim Head of School

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Expeditionary School at Black River Receives EpicPromise Grant