International Community School
Administering Organization
The International Community School (ICS) is a DeKalb County,
Georgia Charter School
Program Objectives and Unique Needs Addressed
Vision: The International Community School
seeks staff and families who are committed to the vision of
creating a supportive community of students, staff and parents,
learning from each other and celebrating diversity. The school
seeks to build and nurture the Beloved Community that Dr.
Martin Luther King worked for.
Mission: The International Community School
provides refugee, immigrant and local children with an international
education at the elementary school level. The school explores
and celebrates cultural differences in a challenging, nurturing
and intentionally multi-ethnic environment.
Values:
- Academic Excellence: Students follow
the Georgia Performance Standards of the Quality Core Curriculum,
which is taught within the framework of the International
Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme. A challenging international
program, the IBPYP enables students to employ an investigative,
inquiry-based approach to learning.
- Community in Diversity: ICS seeks a diverse
student body and staff in terms of national, ethnic, religious
and socio-economic backgrounds. The school helps students
to learn about the beliefs and traditions of others and
encourages a respectful environment and global perspective.
- Service-Oriented Education: ICS expects
students to become independent learners and to feel responsibility
for the life of their school community and for the success
of all its members. The school fosters a sense of service
to others both within and outside the school community.
- Family and Community Partnerships: ICS
partners with parents and community organizations in order
to provide families with the educational, social and spiritual
services they will need in a multicultural society.
Program Description
The International Community School (ICS), a charter school
located in DeKalb County, Georgia, was strategically designed
to bring together refugee, immigrant and native-born children
in an academically challenging and nurturing environment.
In the last ten years, thousands of refugee children have
come to DeKalb County, bringing not only gifts and talents
but also the deep physical and spiritual wounds of war. This
program is set up to address the unique needs of child survivors
of war for supplemental educational and social services. Today
the county is home to the highest percentage of refugees in
the southeastern United States.
ICS students have different opportunities to learn within
the IBPYP and GPS frameworks, the curricula the schools uses
described below, as well as learn languages (a choice of French
or Spanish), music, art and a variety of after-school classes.
School begins at 8:25 am and lasts until 3:15 for grades K-4
and 4:00 for grades 5-6. ICS students wear uniforms of navy
blue shorts, skirts or pants and white or light blue collared
shirts. Tutoring is available during the school day and after-school,
as needed. There are additional programs available for students
to participate in, some free of charge and others with cost,
based on the criteria from the Federal Free and Reduced Cost
Meal program. Programs include:
- School Within a School (SWS) Program:
The ICS School Within a School (SWS) is a one-on-one tutoring
program for students in first through sixth grades. Begun
three years ago in the 2004-2005 school year as an attempt
to address the needs of refugee children with little or
no schooling in their home countries, the program has expanded
over the years through the help of dedicated volunteers.
Retired teachers and principals, former lawyers and piano
tuners, aspiring psychologists and dedicated moms and dads
tutor children from 23 different countries. Concentrating
on reading and math, they work from 30 minutes to an hour
one or more times a week. The program has expanded to serve
the greatest-needs children in the school. Thirty participate
in an After-School Academy focused entirely on educational
tutoring. This program is separate from the After School
Enrichment Program.
- After School Enrichment Program: The
ICS After School Enrichment Program (ASEP) is an award-winning
program that employs a diverse staff of educators who are
dedicated to the development of young people. The program
offers a safe and caring place where children can do homework
and play with other children under the supervision of qualified
staff. The program operates every school day with the exception
of half-days. There are no additional charges for this program.
A typical schedule includes having snack, working on homework,
learning about different cultures in the Heritage Language
and Cultures Program, and other enrichment activities such
as dance and soccer.
- Saturday School: The Family Literacy
Program, “Saturday School,” is a pioneering
initiative of the Friends of the International Community
School (ICS). The Saturday School, founded in 2004, is designed
to address the basic literacy needs of teenagers, parents
and grandparents whose education has been interrupted by
war. For the school year 2007-2008, Saturday School has
five classes: adult women, teenage girls, teenage boys,
girls 10—12 and children 5—10. Program staff
includes five certified teachers and a large group of volunteer
tutors, averaging around thirty per week. Students are from
Afghanistan, Burma, El Salvador, Iraq, Liberia, Russia,
Sudan and Somalia.
Resource Materials Used in Program
At ICS, the International
Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IBPYP) is a framework
for the Georgia Performance Standards of the Quality Core
Curriculum. The IBPYP is a trans-disciplinary program of international
education designed to focus on the total growth of the developing
child. It fosters the development of the whole child, encompassing
social, physical, emotional and cultural needs in addition
to academic development. ICS is currently waiting for official
authorization from the International Baccalaureate Organization
to be a World School.
The
Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) are the state-mandated,
standards-based curriculum for English language arts, mathematics,
science, and social studies. This curriculum which is linked
to the annual Criterion-Referenced
Competency Tests (CRCT), which allows the state to measure
student achievement of the state-mandated curriculum. Results
of the CRCT test are also used to publish Georgia’s
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) reports for all public schools
as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
Because ICS has achieved “Adequate Yearly Progress”
(AYP) for four years in a row, the school has been awarded
a Distinguished TITLE ONE School by the Georgia Department
of Education.
The Saturday School Program uses a variety of curricula
for their program to serve the wide-range of participants
they have in the program, people from ages 5 to 75. There
are five different curricula used based on the group being
served. Adults focus on English, work skills and citizenship.
Teenage girls receive assistance in reading and academic tutoring.
Teenage boys focus on academic tutoring, reading, and GED
preparation. The planning and curricula are very specifically
designed for the participants in the program. Currently, there
are no females preparing for the GED, so it is not offered
in the sessions. If that were to change, the program would
adapt to fit the needs. Children use project-based learning
to focus on English and reading. Rosetta Stone software is
used in the computer lab.
Groups Served by Program
This program serves
refugee, immigrant and local children from DeKalb County,
Georgia. It is a tuition-free, public charter school. The
students represent more than 35 countries and some 40 language
groups. Students also represent an economic mix seldom seen
in America’s schools. More than half of the students
at ICS are refugees or immigrants and more than half receive
free or reduced lunch. The remaining students are from mainstream
families, a significant percentage of whom previously enrolled
their children in private schools. Of the American students,
20% of the students are African-American and about 10% are
Caucasian.
Program Funding
Funding comes from a variety of sources, including federal, county, and state funds supplemented by donations from individuals, foundations, businesses, faith groups, and corporations.
Program Staffing and Required Staff Training
The staff in the school includes homeroom teachers, special-subject
teachers, program coordinators, counselors, media specialists,
administrators and assistants. The staff come from a variety
of different backgrounds, with teachers graduating from schools
in the United States, France, Spain, England, Costa Rica,
Cuba, Canada, Wales, Guyana, and Mauritius. The administrators
and assistants are from ten countries in total, including
Burundi, Rwanda, Bosnia, Côte d’Ivoire, Burma,
Kurdistan, Bangladesh, Germany, Vietnam and the United States.
Staff participate in an orientation week, which includes
new and returning staff. Community building activities are
part of the orientation. There are also staff-building trainings
throughout the year as needed, and continued focus on the
community aspect of the school. ICS teachers also receive
on-going certification training in IBPYP skills and on working
within the GPS framework.
Program Evaluation
ICS has met the requirements for No Child Left Behind for
the past four years, since it began. It was commended by the
Georgia Board of Education this year, one of two schools for
disadvantaged children to receive the commendation. ICS began
tracking evaluative measures last school year, and expects
to see the trends in the school over the next few years.
Program Outcomes
ICS has received numerous commendations for its students’
achievements since opening in 2002. The school has been selected
as a Nationally Distinguished Title 1 School. Additionally,
it was the top school in the state of Georgia for closing
the gap between high and low scoring students on standardized
tests. The Iowa test scores for the 2007-2008 5th grade class
came back very positive. The school was 10-30 points higher
in score than the other local schools in the area. Finally,
the school had the top attendance rate in January 2008 for
all 89 elementary schools in the county.
Program Additional Comments
ICS was highlighted by the New York Times on December 25,
2007 in an article entitled “Georgia School Melds a
World of Differences.” Click
here to access the New York Times and search for the article.
It features an audio slideshow and a video about two students’
unique experience.
Program Contacts
Avondale campus (Grades K-4)
3260 Covington Hwy.
Decatur, GA 30032
Phone: 404-499-8969
Fax: 404-499-8968
Stone Mountain campus (Grades 5-6)
6780 James B. Rivers Dr
Stone Mountain, GA 30083
Phone: 678-252-6342
Fax: 678-252-6347
http://www.intcomschool.org/
Program Dates
ICS began operation during the 2002-2003 school year and
has grown to be one of the most successful charter schools
in the state, with some 380 students enrolled for the fall
of 2007.
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