Global Village School

Founder/President/Principal: Sally Carless

School Type: Private, Non-profit, Homeschool

Founded: 1999

Ages/Grades: K-12

School Size: Varies

Student/Teacher Ratio: Varies

Tuition: See http://www.globalvillageschool.org/fees.html (HS) and http://globalvillageschool.org/k8.html (K-8)

Financial Aid: Limited

Departments:

See http://globalvillageschool.org/staff.html

Curriculum:

English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Foreign Language, Fine Arts, Peace & Diversity, Electives, Create your own! See http://www.globalvillageschool.org/sample.htm

Support Services: Enrollment counseling, college prep, newsletter, online student social group, transcript, diploma

System Requirements:

Proficiency with online browser, email, and Word

Mission Statement:

Global Village School offers a progressive, accredited, customizable K-12 homeschooling program via online and text-based curriculum, complete with individualized teacher services. Our high school home school diploma courses integrate peace, justice, and diversity studies with the core subjects. We are an international school, welcoming students from around the globe.

Philosophy/Belief Statement:

Our values include peace, compassion, justice, sustainability, community, integrity, appreciation of diversity, caring for the Earth and our fellow beings, creativity, and living an authentic and meaningful life. Our approach is creative and flexible. We believe students learn best when they are fully engaged in their studies. We encourage self-directed learning rather than trying to make everyone study the same way. We customize curriculum based on student interests, needs and learning styles.

School History: Our Director, Sally Carless says "You can find peace education on the Internet. You can find multicultural education. But they are not generally linked together. The problems, however, have the very same roots - fear, lack of understanding and lack of exposure to those who are different. So that's how the vision for Global Village came about: minority education grew into multicultural education and into diversity education, and so on, until it became peace and tolerance education. "Peace and understanding can only come about with personal responsibility and awareness. Our society and many religions teach people to be followers. But in order to build a world with responsible, aware citizens, we must teach our children to think for themselves. And that is where our education comes in. Global Village's courses provide students with the missing links. Such as, how are human rights and the global economy interrelated? How does it impact a child laborer in Asia when I buy a pair of tennis shoes? What is the true cost of that tennis shoe - not just in dollars, but human suffering? What is the true cost of the electricity I use in my home, of the gas I burn in my automobile?".

Testimonials:

I chose you because I read your web site and it restored my faith in any kind of education system. Everything you said struck a chord with me. I felt a real connection to the beliefs and outlooks on education that you expressed.
Elizabeth, 9th grade student, Oregon

This has been a good year and when I think about everything we did and everywhere we went I realize that we did a lot. It's the first time in my life that I actually enjoyed school. I have been thinking about all this more because my school year is coming to its end.…I hope I get to go to Global Village School again after I complete my fifth grade.
Derek, 5th grade, Oregon

I've gotten a lot from this class, certainly a lot more than I expected I would when I first started with it. It was a hard course for me, mainly because it required a lot of thought and I tend to be rather lazy with things like this. But I think that I've learned so much, and I'm sure that the things that I've learned will stay with me for the rest of my life.

I've definitely developed my own beliefs a lot more. Reflecting on all of the passages really helped me realize what I believed and how I looked at the world. I've also learned how to deal better with people who hurt me, and I've learned how to balance being a pacifist and not being walked on (which was something that I've always had a problem with).
Phyllis, 12th grade, Pennsylvania

Notes/School Information:

Students work at their own pace and can enroll year-round, thus school size and other metrics are constantly changing. To date (7/08) all GVS high school graduates have gone on to attend a college or university