Avalon is a small, tuition-free public charter school for students in grades 6-12, located in the Saint Anthony Park neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota. At Avalon, our curricular focus is Project-Based Learning, a model which empowers our students to explore their passions while developing the communication, time management and collaborative skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century.
AVALON MISSION:
Avalon School seeks to establish a just world by nurturing an equitable school community for students that inspires active learning, social justice, engaged citizenship, and hope for the future.
AVALON VALUES:
Nurturing Community
At Avalon, we believe the health of our school is dependent on the strength of our community - a community that values belonging, dignity, respect, and understanding. We believe that students and staff must actively nurture and practice the habits required to create a reflective, restorative, and equitable community.
Equity
At Avalon, we believe we must actively work to be anti-racist: we must understand and dismantle the intersection of racist policies and ideas that produces and normalizes racial inequities.
At Avalon, we believe in equity as access, opportunity, and advancement for all people. We would achieve equity by actively dismantling systems of historical, intentional, and systemic oppression. We believe in a world where outcomes should not be predicted based on marginalized identities, including the color of one’s skin, gender, sexual identity, ability, income level, age, or immigrant status.
Identity
At Avalon, we believe students must develop positive identities, understand their histories, and nurture their physical and mental health to build the skills and dispositions required to shape a positive future.
Sustainability
At Avalon, we believe in the interconnection between environmental justice and social justice. We value collaborating with others to create solutions that contribute to a sustainable world.
Engagement
At Avalon, we know learning comes from engaging with diverse groups of people, in and outside of the school, in meaningful ways.
We all learn and teach each other at Avalon by:
Creating a content–rich curriculum. Our content emphasizes global relevance, stresses depth over breadth, and draws upon the passions and interests of its students.
Empowering students to foster a positive school culture and establish core values. These core values are student-driven and emphasize the importance of academic excellence and active citizenship, and also will contribute to students' individual character and value development.
Teaching students how to develop meaningful interpersonal, communication, and learning skills. Honing these skills complements students’ academic achievements and can increase opportunities for success in the real world.
Partnering with community members and experts within their own fields or trades. At Avalon, we are always seeking new ways to involve community members and volunteers!
Volunteering means helping students:
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Identify their intellectual passions
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Develop their individual learning styles
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Teach real–life skills
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Offer apprenticeship / internship / volunteer opportunities
Providing a safe, nurturing, and accepting community. At Avalon, community is everything. We strive to maintain a strong, democratic learning community in which students are not only accepted for who they are as individuals, but also for their passions, interests, and talents.
Advocating for social justice and equity for all students. In addition to creating a safe space on our own school grounds, we also encourage our students to advocate for greater social justice movements in our neighborhood, city, state, country, and world.
Tasking all students with the responsibility of creating a great learning environment. All members of Avalon’s student body are welcome and encouraged to be involved in school-wide decision–making. All students have the opportunity to influence and support the way things function within our school.
To learn more about Avalon School, please read through our history or peruse the Annual Report. Want someone else's perspecitve? Read testomonials from former parents, Avalon alums, and education professionals or check out the Awards and Recognition section to see what others have been saying.