1480 Linden Ave, Carpinteria, CA 93013
Ph. 805.684.5481 Fax 805.684.3384
Principal- Leslie Gravitz lgravitz@cusd.net

Carpinteria Family School offers an educational alternative to students, teachers, and parents in the Carpinteria Unified School District. Parents district staff, administration, and School Board created Carpinteria Family School with the belief that children come to school already immersed in their learning and have their own strengths and interests. We seek to support the individual and provide guidance, stimulation, and support. Carpinteria Family School strives to be a leading educational force in open education.

As an open school, Carpinteria Family School promotes social and emotional development. Children learn to share knowledge and feelings, to solve interpersonal problems, to develop common goals, and to respect each other's values. The emphasis is on challenging students individually based on cooperation rather than competition. Freedom, responsibility, self-discipline, and consideration of others are learned by daily practice. When combined with the richness of the school's diverse population and a daily commitment to multi cultural education, these various components challenge barriers to equity.

Our school is a community of life-long learners. School and home are blended into a larger community as children, teachers and parents work together. Carpinteria Family School draws families from the entire Carpinteria Unified School District. The community extends beyond the classroom walls to other classes, to our urban community, and out into the world.

The following describe classrooms at Carpinteria Family School:

• Classes run on a continuum. Each class has two or more grades and students remain in the same class for more than one year.
• Curriculum is developed by the teacher in concert with the children, and using supplemental materials in addition to the District-adopted programs. Emphasis is on learning through experience using ever-developing problem solving skills. Academic goals are achieved through an integrated approach linked with the children's interests and needs.
• The teacher supports the learning environment as well as the learning style of each student. Attention is paid to the variable ways in which children learn. The idea is not what children should do at a given age or time, but what the child needs to help them develop to their full potential.
• Democracy is practiced in the classroom by the students with the teachers and extends throughout the school.
• Parents at Carpinteria Family School are active participants in their children's education and are integral to the school's environment. We encourage all Family School families to educate themselves and others in open school principles, philosophy, theory and action. We believe these actions will strengthen our common bonds and facilitate community acceptance of innovative open school programs.

We are proud of our pioneering program. We offer our student the continuity of our program from grades Kindergarten through Eight. We look forward to many years of innovation and self-evaluation to keep us on the cutting edge of open school and as a model the Carpinteria Unified School District can display with pride.