C3 Framework: Character, Competency, Content

Snake River Opportunities High School’s identity is defined by our goal to customize learning for each student. This identity calls us to the formation of our students, our families, and ourselves as whole people that are part of a larger community. We hope our educational journey will help us to develop not only information about specific content, but our personal character and practical competencies.

At a time when both families and schools find themselves subjected to many pressures, the only path to success in this endeavor is a strong sense of community between the school, students, and family. Our community agreements below strive to define the community around shared values and norms. Being part of the SROHS community means that we all agree to the following norms. To quote Henry Ford - “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”

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The SROHS Community agrees to Value Relationships: We will strive to build authentic relationships and meaningful connections between students, families, and staff which will bring joy in learning. We will realize that each person has different needs, and we will be flexible as we meet those needs.

• RESPECT: As a society, we struggle to create trusting and respectful interactions between individuals and institutions. We have grown accustomed to the impersonal nature of customer service. Every member of the SROHS staff, every student, and every family is fully committed and invested in the formation of students. This shared commitment requires mutual respect, decorum, patience, and dialogue, especially at moments of stress. 

• COMMUNICATION: The school will communicate regularly with students and families. Reciprocal Communication by students and families is critical to student success.

• TRANSPARENCY: If the partnership between the student or family and school isn’t working, we owe it to each other to raise the concern and to provide an opportunity for growth. We agree to bringing our authentic self to the work of educating our students.

• CHANNELS: Navigating the problems of education through the lens of our “outrage culture” or by taking personal issues to the public forum has never been successful in solving problems. We agree to use established channels of communication and these channels of communication will be responsive to issues as they arise. We agree to take celebrations to public spaces and to take concerns or problems to the right places and people, not to the public.

The SROHS Community agrees to work for Growth and Success: Through hard work and perseverance we will be consistently learning through flexibility while actively setting goals to reach our full potential.

• High Expectations: At SROHS we have high expectations. Those expectations are made clear through our Frameworks for Learning (F4L).  The school agrees to maintain and revise them as a part of what makes our school unique. We all tend to sink or rise to what is asked of us, so while special circumstances may occur, our high expectations are generally fixed in place; the application of these expectations is malleable and customized. Instead of lowering the bar, we are excited to see the creative ways students grow towards expectations. As a community we agree to trust, support, and guide each other to reach our full potential.

• OWNERSHIP: As students move through their years here at SROHS, our intentional community is designed to provide mentoring and support as students become increasingly independent. We believe in a gradual of release of responsibility. Educators commit to less “hand holding” as the student progresses through different levels of SROHS. Parents acknowledge that the student will need to act increasingly more independent through their educational experience at SROHS. We agree to encourage students to solve their own problems, and that this practice is intentional and not neglectful on the part of the adults.

The SROHS Community agrees to work for Balance: In our work together, we will make room to balance school and family, to believe in the value of presuming positive intent, and to lean into each other’s integrity.

• BOUNDARIES: As part of the SROHS community, we agree to allow for personal space for living and for clear boundaries between personal lives and our school lives together. For the safety of staff, students, and families, we agree to make clear distinctions between our personal lives and our school lives. 

• SUPPORT: Personal resilience is strengthened by self-care. We make space for staff, students, and families to enjoy their activities and relax. We agree to protecting our personal space.

• POSITIVE INTENT: There are many interpretations of events that are often biased, ambiguous, or incomplete. We often interpret situations through an emotional lens. When confronted with a situation that doesn’t make sense, we agree to start by presuming positive intent. We will believe the best of each other.

• HEROES: We all need people in our lives who can function as heroes and role models. Our community will intentionally lift each other up. SROHS staff will not diminish the integrity of the parents. Likewise, parents will not demean or criticize the actions of a SROHS staff member in the presence of the student or in public forums. We agree to act in ways that model character, integrity, and compassion. 

The SROHS Community agrees to be a Team: We will work together to support and collaborate and be open to learning from each other.

• STRUCTURE: As a learning community, SROHS commits to plan, implement, and revise our school model, but we cannot guarantee an experience that is free of obstacles, setbacks, errors, or disappointments. However, we hope to work together to help students on their learning journey. We agree to being part of a common structure that is dynamic and growing to meet the needs of the community, students, families, and staff.

• GROWTH MINDSET: We all make mistakes and fall short. Together, we respond to challenges in ways that allow us to grow beyond our errors. We hope to encourage a growth mindset in our staff, students, and families, and by doing so we hope to encourage our growth as a team of learners. We agree to giving feedback for strengths and for opportunities, and to leveraging our strengths to meet our opportunities.

• CHARACTER AND COMPETENCE: A student’s transcript may get the student accepted into college, but skills such as professional work ethic, leadership, teamwork and collaboration, and citizenship and civic responsibility allow all of us to thrive in life. There are many shortcuts to building a college application but few shortcuts to developing character or competence. As a team we agree to place all of our learning of knowledge in the context of developing ourselves, our community, and our world.

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