The Community Campus debuts
The Community Campus team is shown in Woodstock, Vermont. At left (bottom to top) are Kate Kardashian, Tesha Buss, Kristiana Ploss and Carolyn Shaw, and at right are Izzy Jenne and (top) Heather Todd-Perham. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
A new venture in Woodstock, Vermont, is providing working parents with some much-needed support for children during remote learning days.
That need led to the formation of The Community Campus (TCC), a new nonprofit providing academic support and creative enrichment opportunities on remote learning days and after school. It shares a building with the Rainbow Playschool at the foot of Mount Tom on Route 12 and serves children in grades K-7. Rainbow and TCC operate in separate parts of the building, and a few spaces are shared, though used at different times.
The impetus for the TCC concept formed when Kate Kardashian, a special education teacher in the local Windsor Central Supervisory Union, went through the difficult experience that so many parents did this spring, when the pandemic hit and suddenly remote learning was the new reality. Kardashian knew working parents would need help this school year, including those who could not get essential worker status.
"We needed to do something for families and kids," she said.
A view from the second-floor back steps of The Community Campus offers this scenic view of Mount Tom. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
She spoke with her friend, Tesha Buss, then-president of the Rainbow Playschool Board. Buss had anticipated remote learning would be a struggle again for her staff, and she suggested Rainbow's building as a possible option, and the process began from there.
Collaboration with the school district is centrally important to this effort. Kristiana Ploss, the educational director for TCC, said the program is designed to be a help to the district and teachers.
"We're supporting the school district and their remote menus of learning," Ploss said.
There are different schedule options, and the cost is $50 per day for the 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. program option, and $20 per day for 3-5 p.m. after-school care. There are options for tuition assistance, including through the Woodstock Area Relief Fund. Buss, the TCC business manager, said the main focus for TCC is the current need in the community.
"What the (long-term) looks like, that's not fully determined," Buss said, adding the nonprofit is working on start-up costs. It recently received its state license as a school-aged child care center. "Right now, we're just doing what we have to do."
Kardashian, whose TCC role is on a volunteer basis, remains working for the local school district and felt the need to get this project off the ground to help the community.
"It's really a grassroots effort that's meeting an immediate need," she said.
The classroom for grades 6 and 7 is shown at The Community Campus. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
TCC began its year on Tuesday, when all Vermont public schools reopened. As of Monday, 35 kids were enrolled and more spots were available.
In the morning, TCC staff help the students get through their remote assignments and projects, Ploss said. In the afternoon, students get to experience "genius work," inspired by Google's "genius hour" concept, believing that better results come from letting workers pursue projects they’re passionate about. At TCC, students can choose a project they're interested in, make a plan, and tackle it, involving a topic relevant to school studies. It's a chance to "build on their school work" using a subject which interests them, Ploss explained. The campus at the base of Mount Tom provides plenty of ways to involve the outdoors in these projects.
"We really want them to make it their own," she said.
TCC also partners with local entities. The staff will regularly pick up books from the Norman Williams Public Library for the students. Also, the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park plans to collaborate on some learning programs.
Additionally, TCC has applied to become a child care hub, under a new state program trying to address the needs around school-aged child care and remote learning. If approved, the program would help with TCC's start-up costs. That application is pending.
— Gareth Henderson
