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 About Meridian
Meridian stands apart because it is a community school. First, this means that students, parents, teachers, and administrators share the responsibility for creating a productive and warm learning environment. When each student, teacher, or parent realizes that his or her success is tied to others’ successes, a spirit of cooperation, helping, and mentoring begins to develop. This interdependence--relying on each other and becoming a resource to each other--is the core of sound and enduring learning. It is also a foundation for friendship, mutual respect, and tolerance. In practical terms, the children are less inclined to form “cliques” or make rigid distinctions based on grade levels, gender, or status. Older kids help mentor younger kids, both formally and informally. Encouragement among peers is more common than criticism. This pervasive sense of unity within the student body nourishes every learner.
Second, community schools avail themselves of the resources, diversity, and shared values of the community to which they belong. Instead of teaching solely about experiences and people “out there in the real world,” Meridian brings the best people and ideas of its own community into student life and the classroom. Thus, active parent and teacher involvement are common stock. Seeing so many others share their talents, time, and resources with the school, the students not only learn from those who help out, but internalize the shared commitment to education and learning.
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