Category: Community Partnerships

TCEC Students Visit Our School

Tri-County Early College High School students came to our school in December to share their human impact project on plastic in the environment. They shared information and quizzed the students using Jeopardy game show style questions.

Tri-County Early College High School (TCEC) is a local choice for high school students. According to their website, what makes TCEC different than a traditional school is:

Tri-County Early College focuses on Project-Based Learning, STEM-focused learning activities, Competency-based Assessment, Experiential hands-on activities, College courses, 21st Century Skills, Tony Wagner’s Survival Skills, College Visitation experiences each year, Trust Levels that require students to take responsibility for their own learning, and a Service Learning component requiring students to achieve 100 hours of volunteer work by the time they graduate from high school.  Student voice and choice is a strong part of our approach so that students can take ownership and feel highly engaged with their work.

The collaboration between our middle school students and the TCEC high school students bridges a gap between the schools and allows our students ample opportunity to learn about the exciting option for their high school years.

Plus many former students are now attending TCEC and everyone likes to catch up with their former class mates!

5th Grade Muddy Sneakers Trip to Hanging Dog Campground

You might recall that our fifth graders spend the year doing field work with Muddy Sneakers.

The Muddy Sneakers program exists to enrich the standard course of study through experiential education in an outdoor setting where students connect with the land, become more active, and gain self-confidence while improving science aptitude.  Muddy Sneakers began as a pilot program in the spring of 2007 with Brevard and Pisgah Forest Elementary Schools in Transylvania County and has grown each year to now serve 36 schools across 12 counties and 13 school districts in the Carolinas.

Students spent the day at Hanging Dog Campground learning about Energy and Heat Transfer.  Students learned about heat transfer, insulators, and conductors, by testing the temperature of a rock in its original setting, then taking the rock and trying some different methods to warm the rock up and then testing the temperature again. 

They also created a habitat out of only natural and native materials to see who could create the warmest environment.  They tested their habitats by inserting a heated bottle of water and checked the temperature before inserting the water and at about 10 minutes after inserting the water.  They also got to sample some pine needle tea as they learned about conduction, convection, and radiation. 

5th Grade Pajama Drive Success

Back in December, fifth grade students headed up a Pajama Drive to support the Pajama Program.  The Pajama Program is an organization that works to provide pajamas to children who live with uncertainty. 

The class partnered with Scholastic Book Club to also provide a book along with a new pair of pajamas.  Students found out about this opportunity through Scholastic Book Club.  Students ran the drive for about a month and collected 43 pairs of pajamas. 

Scenes from ARTrageous 2019

On November 8, 2019, our school hosted our fourth annual art celebration and fundraising event — ARTrageous 2019.

Art was celebrated in all forms from food, dancing, live music, written and spoken word, to gallery art and a live drama performance from our very own TLC GrowZone Players.

The TLC GrowZone Players always steal the show and give audiences a great preview of the spectacular performances you’ll see at our annual Spring Musical. This year’s performance was a spin on a old time radio show called The Thin Man.

Thank you to everyone that came out and supported the arts at TLC!

5th grade students enjoy Muddy Sneakers trip to Fires Creek

Building boats and racing them down the creek was the order of the day on October 29th for fifth grade students at The Learning Center Charter School.  That’s because field educators from Muddy Sneakers took the class on an expedition to Fires Creek to learn about force and motion.

The Muddy Sneakers program exists to enrich the standard course of study through experiential education in an outdoor setting where students connect with the land, become more active, and gain self-confidence while improving science aptitude.  Muddy Sneakers began as a pilot program in the spring of 2007 with Brevard and Pisgah Forest Elementary Schools in Transylvania County and has grown each year to now serve 36 schools across 12 counties and 13 school districts in the Carolinas.

While at Fires Creek, students had to construct a boat and see how fast it could travel in the creek in 11 seconds.  Students made a hypothesis, tested their boats, made adjustments and then tested them again.  They also investigated how a pulley system works by trying to find the best way to get a rope over a tree limb to lift a weighted backpack off the ground.

Fifth grade science teacher at the school, Gina Stafford, said, “The students loved the trip not just because it was fun, but because they were divided into small groups and were really able to focus on what the instructors were teaching. I loved seeing the kids so involved with the activities and enjoying the outdoors. They really did get muddy sneakers!”

Want to know more about our approach to education and the emphasis we put on be outside? Fill out the form below and we’ll contact you!

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8th Graders “Ventured Out” to Asheville

Each school year, eighth grade students VENTURE OUT on day trips. It’s part of our school’s cross-curricular travel-study program that weaves literature, science and history with travel and real life experiences. The VENTURE OUT program promotes trips to places and people of interest across the Mountain Region of North Carolina.

In September, students traveled to the Western North Carolina Nature Center in Asheville. In addition to seeing and learning about the many animals at the center, students also enjoyed the ropes courses.

Why do we venture out with our students?

Traveling is an investment in education. It allows kids the opportunity to see first-hand the things they have learned and to put into practice the skills they have acquired. They gain a global perspective and a strong independence that no other teaching method can impart. Travel teaches tolerance, self-sufficiency, and resourcefulness. Without travel, students only see the world on a screen or in a book but TLC ensures they get to experience it for themselves.

4th annual ARTrageous event set for Friday, Nov. 8th

Last year’s cast of the ARTrageous production was all smiles!

If you love supporting the Arts in our community, especially in our schools, then you will want to be at ARTrageous 2019 on November 8th at The Learning Center Charter School.  

ARTrageous is an annual, themed celebration of the Arts. The event features music, dancing, dramatic performances, galleries of student work and more.   

This year’s theme is an old time radio show.  Students have studied what entertainment was like in the 1920s and 1930s before television.  The school’s theater troupe, the Grow Zone Players, will be performing an actual episode of “The Thin Man” while also creating the sound effects from the story.

“The Thin Man” was a weekly radio show that starred Nick and Nora as crime detectives solving a mysterious case each week.

“This is a different style of performance than we’ve done in the past but one that our young actors are very excited to share with our community,” said drama program director, Ryan Bender.  

Along with displays of student work and delicious hors d’oeuvres, there will be local performers including members of the Ridgeline Literary Alliance.  The TLC Grow Zone Players will present their live radio performance of “The Thin Man” at 7:30pm.

Mark your calendar for ARTrageous 2019 on Nov 8th at 6pm at The Learning Center Charter School located at 945 Conaheeta Street in Murphy.  Adult tickets are $10 and students are $5.