Chrysalis School

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Teachable Moments

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Research: Eric Jensen argues that self-regulation is the number one executive function skill that kids need to be successful in school. Also termed grit, resilience, or perseverance, Jensen cites numerous studies that relate this skill to academic performance and educational achievement. Students who can regulate their emotions and behavior are simply more likely to succeed in school and in life.

Practice: Self-regulation can be taught by slowing down to consider student attitudes and choices in given circumstances. At Chrysalis we engage students in direct, honest conversations about their behavior–where it might be appropriate, where it might not, and how to make that decision. We look for teachable moments where we see students struggling with self-regulation and use that opportunity to drive lessons around behavior and promote positive interactions. We allow students the opportunity to fail and get back up in a caring environment where everyone makes mistakes and learns from them.

Teacher’s Passion and Experience

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Research: Effective teachers are passionate about their subject area, but also other areas of their lives. A recent post from the Center for Teaching Quality, entitled “How Being Punk Rock Makes Me a Better Teacher,” demonstrates just that. Teachers who can share their passions and experiences with their students can have a tremendous impact on students both personally and academically, teaching valuable life lessons along the way.

Practice: Our teachers are encouraged to be who they are and share their passions with our community. Our teachers are mountaineers, artists, musicians, writers, actors, athletes, cross-fit trainers, animal lovers, and much much more! Their passions are a vital part of how we match students to teachers, with the hope of sparking productive learning partnerships.

My Happy Place

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In English 9, the students were asked to respond to a writing prompt, which was partially taken from a prompt found on the Common App for college applications The prompt was – Describe a time or place where you felt perfectly content.  Josh wrote this short, but poignant, piece about one special day, at one very special place. 

My Happy Place

The day of my happy place was June 18th, 2013. It was the last day of school and it was Beach Pie Day. Every year, at the very end, everyone at school brought all different kinds of pies – cherry pie, apple pie, blueberry pie . There were store bought pies, homemade pies, and pies baked at school. There were plenty of pies to go around for everyone!

Everyone also dressed like they were going to the beach to eat pie.I had woken up that morning feeling excited about it being the last day of school and I felt refreshed. I rushed to the bathroom, took a shower, and headed back to my room.  After my usual getting ready routine, I headed to school. When I got there my friends Jonah, Ben, and Dayian were there too. We all got our regular morning food of a chicken flavored Cup Of Noodles and sat down in the corner of the room and discussed what was it gonna be like without Dayian and Ben (this was their last day at Chrysalis). We had decided that the next year of school would not be as fun, and maybe a little lonely.

After about an hour of just talking, we headed outside and ran around having fun.  I don’t think I ever felt my smile come off my face. Everyone was so happy and having a great time. I had never been so happy to be at Chrysalis in that moment, with those people that I love so much, at the school that I treat like my home. After some contests and pie eating, we sat in front of all of our reflections of a dark window at the side of the school looking at our group and thinking, “wow, what a great year.” We talked about all our favorite times together. That day made me feel like my life was perfect.

After that we headed back inside and got ready to leave the South Campus for good. I said goodbye to all my favorite teachers, like Kent and Debbi.  In the end, we all said goodbye to one another and parted our ways in separate cars, but our friendship never left my heart.

 

Fly Tying, Student Teaches the Class

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In December, Erin’s biology class learned how to tie several fishing flies from Chrysalis student, Peter Anderson. Before tying a fly, fly fishers must know about fish feeding and territory behaviors as well as insect life cycles. Peter taught the class how to tie a midge dry fly called the Griffith’s Gnat and the ever popular Woolly Bugger, which is a wet fly or streamer. The class completed this project in two class periods.

Peter enjoys spending time in many outdoor activities. Fly fishing is one of his favorites. He recently built his own fly rods. Thanks for teaching us Peter!

Our Model

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There are many things we do in our program to prepare our students for college. Instead of filling their day with the traditional, typical, intense instruction and homework, we model our program after colleges.

 1. First, like most colleges, our classes do not meet every day. There is time between classes to do research and complete assignments independently rather than sit in class with other students and the teacher.

2.  The time between classes is important for processing information, forming opinions about the concepts, and considering the relationships of new information and prior knowledge. It doesn’t look like much is happening at this stage but it is critical for long-term memory, understanding the subject in depth and the ability to thinking critically about the subject.

3.  Students have a choice of the classes they want to take, the teacher, the time of day, and how they will cover the required material. They can choose textbooks, movies, games, computer simulations, field trips or field experiences to complete their coursework.

4.  They learn to be independent and prioritize their workload. Once in college, students have to know how long it takes them to do an assignment, how well they can do on a given style of assignment, and manage their time and resources accordingly. Our students have a lot of practice with this type of work.

5.  College students need to see their teachers as partners. Our students are used to that relationship because of our one-on-one instruction. This allows our students to feel comfortable seeking out college instructors during their office hours for critical assistance, giving them another advantage over students who see teachers as adversaries.

6.  What college student doesn’t drop courses when their progress is suffering? As Kenny Rogers sang, “Know when to hold them and know when to fold them.” Our students learn to evaluate a teacher’s style and know if it is a strong style for them or weak style for them. You may have to drop that one impossible class in college to make the others work well. We encourage students to evaluate why a course is or is not working for them.

7.  A rigorous curriculum is one that allows the learner to study a concept in depth and at a complex level. It doesn’t mean more homework.

 

Lyal’s Very Accurate View of his Kindergarten Day at Chrysalis

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Lyal Viers Paper

Chrysalis, The School

Once upon a time, there was a school called Chrysalis.  Everybody at school was super fun and really nice. And, everybody at the school cared about everybody that was there.

When you come in, you check in.  Then, you order lunch.  Then, you go into class.  Then, you have PE.

Then, you have study hall.  In study hall you study math, reading, or whatever you need to do.  You can get a snack if you want to!  Snacks are good!

Then, you have lunch.  And, after lunch you have recess.  And, after recess you have drama or science.  In those classes you do a lot of work but it’s fun.  And, then you have PE again.  Then you have study hall.  You can get more snacks if you want, but first you have to check your lunch to see if your mom packed you some.

Then, when study hall is done, you check out.  Then, you get picked up and you get ready to come back tomorrow.

 THE END

*Transcribed by Sarah Viers

 

SC Field Trip to Wing Luke Museum

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The Friday Field Trip class went to the Wing Luke Museum in the Seattle’s Chinatown-International District today.  On our visit we had a chance to travel back in time to the year 1910.  We learned about what is it must have felt like for all the Asian Pacific immigrants who settled here so many years ago.  We then toured the Yick Fung Company Mercantile and the historic Chinatown hotel. While inside the Mercantile, we were transported back in time, as the store was preserved to it’s authentic state.  As we toured the 100 year hotel, we learned that the 103 room hotel would house up to 20,000 guests a night.  Talk about tight quarters.  It was amazing to see where so people from Japan, China, and the Philippines first lived when they immigrated to the United States.  After the conclusion of our tour, we walked to Uwajimaya Asian Grocery store and ate lunch in their food court.  Students tried various Asian cuisine, including udon noodles, tempura, yakisoba and sushi.  This was a highly enjoyable field trip for us all.

 

 

 

Ecosystems

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Currently the Honors Biology class is studying ecology, which is the study of organisms and the environment.  This is such a big topic that it is often difficult to do labs in class.  For example, we can’t got visit an African savanna.  Our solution was to bring the outdoors in by creating model ecosystems.  Each student or pair created two ecosystems which were identical, except one contained a common pollutant and the other didn’t.  Students got to build their models from scratch and choose what went in them.  We’ll observe them over the coming weeks and study how the presence of modern pollutants can affect an entire ecosystem.

Pete Carroll OR Karen Fogle?

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Pete Carroll or Karen Fogle?

ESPN Magazine recently published an article on the Seahawks that really resonated with us at Chrysalis. Pete Carroll, Seahawks Head Coach, takes a fundamentally different approach to managing his players than others in the NFL, focusing on individual well-being, mental health, mentorship, and optimism as key components to his team’s successes. He’s developed a reputation as a “buddy coach,” encouraging players to grow personally and physically to attain their optimal performance. He states, “I wanted to find out if we went to the NFL and really took care of guys, really cared about each and every individual, what would happen?” In his fourth season with the Seahawks now, players are responding enthusiastically to Carroll’s methods and the team is favored to go to the Superbowl this year!

If this sounds familiar, it might be because Carroll’s strategy parallels the Chrysalis philosophy. At Chrysalis we know that individual well-being is first and foremost to achievement, and that positivity and the development of confidence are central to rendering results. This is why we work so hard to ensure our students attain balance in their lives, develop positive relationships with their teachers and peers, and encourage engagement in their studies. It turns out that happy students make better students! Carroll notes, “we do stuff differently here!” We’re proud to do the same in the realm of education! See the full article here.

Our Campuses

Chrysalis High School and Middle School
15900 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE
Woodinville, WA p: (425) 481-2228

Chrysalis Elementary Campus
17005 140th Ave NE
Woodinville, WA p: (425) 481-2228

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