Mission Statement
The Union County T.E.A.M.S. Charter School for Technology, Engineering, Architecture, Mathematics and Science and High School/College Leadership Academy is a small learning community, Grades K-12, where all students achieve high academic standards by using the built environment as a learning laboratory. Students gain the tools and confidence necessary for successful post-secondary education, entrepreneurship, and the world of work. Students interact with professionals in various professions including the construction community, and manifest by their experiential learning. “We Are Community Builders.”
Philosophy
The future hinges upon what our children learn today as they compete with children all over the globe tomorrow. We remain faithful to all students in the school within an inclusive environment seeking to live out the mission as “a small learning community achieving high academic standards and manifesting by their experiential learning….We are Community Builders.”
Union County T.E.A.M.S. (Technology, Engineering, Architecture, Mathematics and Science) Charter School is in its seventh year of operation. The school is a small learning community of grades K – 12 located in a three-story, state of the art church facility of 69,000 square feet of space including a regulation size gymnasium which doubles as the Community Life and Cultural Arts Center of the Shiloh Baptist Church, Plainfield, New Jersey. The school’s charter allows for 360 students and is progressing toward capacity with its expansion into high school with grades nine through twelve. The family community of our school is intricately involved and committed to our success. Our staff members run the gamut in terms of experience, knowledge and diversity. As a result, we boast a healthy wait list of families desiring entrance into this small but highly academic community.
While our goals remain high, achieving these standards is not without struggle as we prepare all students for Statewide Assessments, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). Our school day is expanded and provides for an hour of tutoring through our project RISE program, after school two – three days per week for grades 2 – 8. Upon taking the PSAT/SAT, all middle and high school students participate in online follow-up and continued tutoring for the College Board Exams in their Junior year.
With the expansion into the high school, our High School/College Leadership Academy purports to ready this smaller learning community for college through its emphasis on college preparatory courses including those experienced in a virtual environment. Students visit college and university campuses in preparation for their high school/college dual credit Bridge Program. They also learn leadership qualities through specific classes and interactive seminars. Moreover, students research career choices, participate in mentoring with career professionals, and ultimately engage in apprenticeships at job-sites of their choosing. All high school students at the Junior and Senior levels participate in Bridge College programs. The Union County College program meets at the SMC campus while classes are attended on campus for the Middlesex County College program. This proves to be a successful means of acquiring dual high school and college credits for graduation and preparation towards an Associate’s Degree.
Students will:
- Learn leadership qualities and exhibit them in their character-both manner and demeanor.
- Discover their relevance in community building, restoration and renewal.
- Gain a healthy respect for themselves as individuals in a competitive society while experiencing core values and morals within a small, stable community with common living bonds.
- Learn to manage and resolve conflict both personal and otherwise through personal development and peer relationships.
- Discover a new found pride in their community along with knowledge of its rich heritage through the study of and contact with its people and their many accomplishments.
