Communitas Charter High School is a public high school located at 4849 Pearl Avenue, San Jose.
Communitas Charter uses an integrated, inquiry-based, hands-on approach to develop students who know themselves and care actively for the world around them. This college preparatory school applies learning to real world experiences, collaborative projects, and personal reflection.
At Communitas every student is known well.
A message from Board President Theodore TimpsonDear Communitas supporters, I am sorry to announce that on June 20th, the board of directors acted to initiate closing procedures for our much-loved school. Three and a half years ago the committee of founders first met to lay the groundwork for Communitas. We were extremely hopeful that we could bring about a different kind of school in Silicon Valley, where real inquiry takes precedence over just "doing the next requirement," and where students could all feel known and cared for. We were both right and wrong. We were right because the students who eventually came to Communitas did have those experiences. We were wrong because the budgetary pressures of starting a new high school did not allow us to grow at the pace that would have made more sense. It takes time to build a community that is going against the current, and we did not have that time once our doors opened last summer. Communitas may be closing, but Communitas is not ending. People all over this region will continue to press schools to find adequate answers to the problems of bullying, anxiety, and disengagement, and many of them will wish for a school like Communitas. Many students will feel discouraged by the lack of meaning and purpose in their coursework. Many parents will continue to talk about "surviving" high school to get to college. This is not an acceptable situation, and the forces that created Communitas will continue to push for change. My hope is that the lessons learned from our project here will become the stepping stones to a greater success. I have personally dedicated my life to finding wisdom, and to making that wisdom available to young people as part of their formal education. For this to happen, we will need changes in how we structure schools and in how we prepare teachers. We will need changes in the way we think about learning and achievement. We will need different measures of success, measures that are connected to a student's inner sense of well being. I will continue to seek those changes for the rest of my career and for the rest of my life. I believe that everyone connected with Communitas has benefited in some way from these ideas, because they are life changing. We do not always know what seeds will be planted by our efforts, but we can be certain that they are good. Our students will enter their future classrooms with a different perspective on what learning can be like, and they may themselves become influences for change. I hope that you will all continue to see yourselves as ambassadors for wisdom-centered education in the schools you attend and in your admirable generosity and service. Perhaps there is a way for some of us to continue this work together. Thank you, everyone, for the commitment you have displayed. The board and I are deeply appreciative of what you have done for Communitas. Theodore Timpson Communitas Board President Upcoming Community EventsMonday, June 3 (7 pm) Room 14 4849 Pearl Ave, San Jose
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