The Open Room Program is a team taught, mulit-age, integrated and investigative curriculum. Our teacher-developed program has evolved since its inception in the 1970's. The Prospect Open Room is taught by Gail Wood and Barb Enos. We work with a heterogeneous group of third and fourth graders who stay with the program until they are ready for fifth grade. Many of the students spent first and second grade in the Eastwood School Open Room at Eastwood Elementary School.
Our goals are the development of: a classroom community (belonging and unity); a postive feeling within each student about him/herself; a desire to learn to learn; independence in learning (self-direction, self-motivation, self-confidence in making choices); the acceptance of responsibilty by each student for her/his actions; thinking/problem-solving skills (an ability to look at our world critically and creatively); and an ability to communicate through writing and speaking.
Our priorities are: cooperation over competition; individualization over a standardized curriculum; process over content; and shared teacher/student decision-making over absolute teacher management.