About
Our Mission
The Independence Charter School (ICS) is a community-oriented educational institution for elementary school-age children located in historic Philadelphia-a city that from its very beginning has served as a magnet for peoples from around the globe. The primary mission of ICS is to provide an intellectually stimulating curriculum with an international focus, emphasizing the arts, languages, ideas, and histories, from an array of cultures from around the world. To meet its goals, the school draws heavily on the resources available in Philadelphia- the museums, historic landmarks, businesses, schools, parks, communities, and families.
Our Approach to Education: Multi-lingualism and a Global Community
In the past several decades, advances in technologies of communication and transportation have brought us all closer together. The world is shrinking. Never before has the ability of our children to communicate and understand peoples from around the world been so crucial to the well being of our communities. In addition, recent discoveries in child development indicate that children are capable of far more at younger ages than had previously been recognized, and that children retain knowledge longer if they connect not only aurally, but emotionally and physically to the material.
In recognition of these changes and findings, ICS emphasizes multi-lingualism for even the youngest of students. It draws upon parents, families, community members, and senior citizens who can share their knowledge, experiences, and ideas. It takes full advantage of local cultural and educational institutions, museums, and businesses to further broaden the perspectives of the students. It incorporates modern communications and computer technology to facilitate dialogues with, and learning from, children around the world. In sum, ICS imbues all students with a greater appreciation for, and understanding of, a diverse array of cultures and ways of thinking and living through an active, hands-on, multidimensional approach to learning and development. And, it does so while reaffirming our commitment to the importance of the existence of vital, strong public education to the city and the nation.
Our Name and Values
While the focus at ICS is squarely on fostering knowledge of a diversity of cultures and countries, the school does not lose sight of two of the key traditional goals of public education: teaching young children the fundamental values of our pluralistic democracy, and the acquisition of the basic language, literacy, and computational skills necessary to function productively. It is never too early to begin the process of teaching children to become competent, thinking citizens.
The name of the school—Independence—is, therefore, not merely an empty reference to the famous Declaration penned by Thomas Jefferson less than two city blocks down the street from the school. Rather, the name represents something fundamental about the mission of the school: to allow for the development of independence of thought and ideas, and to ground students in the values inherent in our democracy, while at the same time exposing them to cultures and ways of living different from their own.
