Stress-free School Fuzzy

One of the nation's most radical experiments in educational reform took place in Phillips County in 2017. In order to meet the educational needs of each student, the district created nine alternative elementary schools with nine distinct approaches to education. One school highlights the arts while another emphasizes high academic standards. There is a technology laboratory school, an institute for basic skills and a military academy.

One of the most unusual educational facilities is Crystal Lake Elementary School — a stressfree instructional facility. The uniqueness of Crystal Lake is evident when first entering the building. Soft music plays over the intercom in carpeted hallways. Walls are painted in soothing pastel shades. Sofas and study nooks have replaced tables and desks, and classroom space has been redesigned to accommodate a variety of meeting requirements. Individual environmental chambers (indecs) have been installed throughout the building. Indecs allow students to control the temperature, lighting, sitting position and noise level of their learning space when working alone.

There are no bells, no tests, and no grades at Crystal Lake. Teachers (who are carefully selected for their sensitivity to the psychological needs of young people) evaluate students by observing them in class and holding teacher/student conferences to talk over academic problems. Written progress reports are rarely sent home since the idea of a "report card" is inconsistent with a stressfree atmosphere. Any student who does happen to experience anxiety may attend a virtual reality presentation in the school's multisensory room. Even the most troubled students generally calm down after twenty minutes of relaxation on a simulated sailing schooner or hang glider.

The effectiveness of Crystal Lake has been controversial. The yearly absentee rate dropped from 6.4 days per student to 3.1, the best performance of any school in Phillips County. Students seem to be more cooperative with one another and many have produced outstanding work. One student wrote a book of mystery stories for children that will soon be published. A parent of a particularly shy child claims that her daughter has become happier, learned more, and is more outgoing since attending Crystal Lake. Several psychologists have commended the school's stress reduction program.

Unfortunately, results in other areas have been less positive. Students at Crystal Lake performed poorly in 2018 state mandated competency tests, scoring lowest in the county in mathematics. Teachers have noticed a lax attitude developing among certain students toward difficult subject areas. Children are frequently found asleep in their indecs and some children spent most of their day in the multi-sensory room. The chairman of the school board has expressed concern that the absence of stress at Crystal Lake creates such an unrealistic environment that its students may be poorly prepared for a life of work.

Many parents withdrew their children from the school after the test results were published in the newspaper. They expressed shock that teachers had not informed them that Crystal Lake students are learning less than other children in the district. Some even sent their children to the county's military school to catch up.

The school division will evaluate all alternative schools next year and will decide on the future direction of education in the county. Many students, teachers and parents fear that Crystal Lake will be closed. They do not believe that low test scores tell the whole story and wish to continue the experiment. Use your problem solving skills to identify possible problems and propose solutions that will assist the county in providing the best education for students.