Community School of Excellence

We are proud to have begun our fourth successful year as a Leading Charter School in the Twin Cities, Looking back over the work in the past years, we are amazed at the progress exemplified by our school, community, and especially our students. CSE began as a gathering of dedicated parents and community members whose work and requests gave birth to the mission and vision of our community school. Among the founding volunteers are parents, community members and educators who continue to be passionate about providing a quality education and a nurturing environment to all students. The discussions led to our proposal and eventually realizing a vision for a school dedicated to academic excellence and cultural strengths. CSE is strong today because of the parents and community members whom have made a commitment to help with and to enhance the learning experience provided by highly qualified educators! CSE's journey has led to new and essential initiatives and globally minded areas of focus. Since the inception of our school, we have moved to a larger and more robust school facility, triples or student enrollment, expanded our curriculum and programs to include a Hmong Cultural Center, a Mandarin Chinese language and culture program, and we're taking bold steps toward truly becoming a center for 21st Century Learning. At CSE, we purposely promote the Literacies of the 21st Century and we are committed to our students becoming responsible and capable global digital citizens. Every teacher and staff member at CSE operates in a collaborative manner and is committed to Collaboration, Communication, and supporting a Welcoming, Cooperative Community. Every child at CSE is served through the following programs and approaches: A welcoming, supportive and engaging environment Differentiated curriculum and instruction according to student needs, strengths and learning styles Hmong Language, Culture and Literacy classes for all students Instruction through co-teaching: together, teachers provide instruction through a Dual Layer Curriculum which focuses on content learning and language acquisition simultaneously Literacy instruction in all content areas (including reading, writing, listening, speaking and digital literacy) Global, Cultural and Language Literacies across the curriculum Creative Literacies and student skills for 21st Century success Technology integration and web literacy and safety College and Career Readiness, including individual student mentor/ mentee programs. Most importantly, CSE has made a commitment to becoming an IB: International Baccalaureate World School. We believe that the philosophy and mission of the IB World organization not only fits the local and global community vision for CSE, but will also serve as a platform to expand our students' academic success and global citizenship. The framework of the IB programme is the vehicle for all of CSE's initiatives and programs. We are currently an IB Applicant school and we will continue to update the community as we move through the IB candidate and authorization process. We have adopted the IB Learner Profiles. Upon exit from CSE, we expect each of our students to be: - Inquirers - Knowledgeable - Thinkers - Communicators - Principled - Open-minded - Caring - Risk-takers - Balanced - Reflective We are confident that CSE will continue to meet the needs of children in our community for many years to come. We invite you to share in our journey as we continue to grow, learn, and connect with community, both locally and around the world!