Cool School

Book excerpt: The present school system is steadily becoming dysfunctional, and its time to improve that system, ensuring it becomes one in which every child feels safe, welcome, interested, and eager to learn. In Cool School, author Jane Loosmore presents a new, two-part approach to education that facilitates effective, child-friendly public schools. Cool School outlines a plan called the Two-School System from Cost to Classroom (2SS)a school concept that is flexible, holistic, and recognizes each child as a blossoming individual. This system is based on the decades of experience by Loosmore and her late husband, Robertfrom their parenting and teaching in many different types of schools, from rural to urban and from grades 1 to 12 in a wide span of subjects. Collecting from their many experiences, Loosmore offers the best of the best of what theyve learned, including discussion on class size, length of the school day, instruction methods, technology, curriculum, and class composition. Loosmore communicates that the purpose of the 2SS is to educate each child to his or her potential for becoming a competent, caring, knowing, reasoning citizen of the world. Its important to prepare this young generation for the usual challenges of adulthood and for finding and creating solutions to the problems with the environment and global enmity.