Newtown Families Welcome Star LabApril 16, 2024: Suncoast PostJodi Schwarzenbach
A new and innovative school for children entering kindergarten this fall is opening in Newtown. With a seasoned educator at the helm promising to fill her students’ days with the essential mix of learning and play and focusing on the academic success and happiness of the whole child, parents are excited to experience this new learning environment. We had the pleasure of speaking with Star Lab’s founding Principal, Alison Rini on what the journey has been like to open a school from idea to inception. What was the impetus to apply for a grant that would allow you to open a new school? Please discuss the process of receiving the news you had been selected for a Drexel award and what the timeline has been like since then. I’ve worked in education for over 20 years, as a teacher and administrator of all different ages and in public, charter, and private schools. I was working at a public Title I school in North Port during the pandemic, and observing the impact of different states closing schools for different periods of time really illuminated the fundamental challenges of a one-size-fits-all model for education. We had desperate families moving to Florida from states where their child had been sitting in their living room for 18 months, with very little learning going on. It was impossible to sort children into academic classes by age because they had had such varying amounts of preparation, and I knew there had to be a better way. (click button below to read on) SARASOTA WINS OPPORTUNITY TO LAUNCH INNOVATIVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLThere is something new under the sun, and it’s coming to the Sunshine State—Sarasota, to be precise. Sarasota resident and innovative educator Alison Rini is founding Star Lab, an elementary school like no other, to open in the Newtown neighborhood in August 2024. “We’re fusing together cutting-edge research on learning and motivation to design a school that brings joy to our children and the adults who care for them.”
The Drexel Fund, a Philadelphia-based philanthropy that provides start-up venture capital to entrepreneurs for ground-breaking schools committed to serving low-income students, awarded Rini a one-year Founders Fellowship to prepare to launch Star Lab. Working in priority states where publicly-funded school choice programs make quality private schools enrolment accessible, the Drexel Fund has established 26 new schools in its first four years of operation since 2015. It plans to open 50 more, including Star Lab, in the next five years. Mrs. Rini was chosen for the Founders Program due to her innovative school model and her extensive educational experience in Sarasota. She has taught at public, private, and charter schools for more than two decades and served as Principal of Island Village Montessori and Assistant Principal at both Pine View and Cranberry schools in the Sarasota school district. She studied neuroscience at Columbia University for her B.A., and has Masters degrees from Teacher’s College in both elementary education and educational leadership. Star Lab will enroll twenty kindergarten students next year and add one grade per year through fifth grade. Each Star Lab student will follow a customized learning path. Both curricula and class schedules will be designed for maximum flexibility, tailored to each student’s individual needs and achievements. As students complete structured learning targets, they progress to the next level. Rewards for achievement, such as outdoor recreation time and real-world projects, will provide motivation. Star Lab’s vision is a true collaboration between teachers, families and students, uplifting each other through the power of relationships. Star Lab has received its non-profit status as a 501c3 entity, named Redefine This Inc.. The next steps are finding a building for its opening next August, enrolling twenty pioneering kindergarteners, and hiring adventure-loving staff. Star Lab can be reached through a website (www.starlab.world) and a Facebook page (facebook.com/StarLabSRQ). Putting the Fun in Fundamental A committed—if not to say driven—educator, Mrs. Rini draws on students’ strengths. “Children,” she says, “love to play, to move, to improve, and to learn.” So what should a school they’d also love look like? Like Star Lab, with, for example, brightly colored learning materials, just right for little hands. Children can move about, within a learning environment designed just for them. They’ll understand the purpose of learning is not for a test score but to gain skills and knowledge for growth and confidence. In short, it’s a Happy Place where each child can shoot for the stars. The Science of Reading is coming to Sarasota!
When students enter school, they embark upon their first job. And a key component of this job is the hardest thing some of them will ever encounter - learning to read. For some children, learning to read comes naturally, but for some it is a struggle. And for children with dyslexia, learning to read is a monumental undertaking that can only be accomplished with systematic and explicit support by highly trained teachers. The good news is that early identification and intervention works - and Star Quest is providing an opportunity for families to do a quick diagnostic check of their child's developing abilities before they even start kindergarten! Star Quest offers evening events where families can bring their children to different literacy stations to gauge their current levels of achievement and get suggestions for how to support their next steps at home. Each Star Quest event is tailored around the expectations for a certain grade level (PreK, K, or 1st grade) but because learning is not necessarily aligned with grade level, parents can bring their children to any or all of the events. Star Quest's first Preschool event is Tuesday, November 28th, followed by the Kindergarten event on Tuesday, December 5th. Both events will take place at the Betty J Johnson Library on 2801 Newtown Blvd. between 5 and 7 pm. Click below for more information and to secure your child's spot! A private elementary school that emphasizes self-paced, competency-based learning is set to open next year in the Sarasota community of Newtown.
Newtown was founded by Black residents who were forced to leave Overtown, a vibrant area near downtown Sarasota. Today, the community features an African American Cultural Resource Center and a $58 million magnet high school with a state-of-the-art visual and performing arts program. The school: Star Lab Grades/ages served: The school plans to welcome its first kindergarten cohort and add grades until it serves students through fifth grade. The founder: Alison Rini brings expertise in gifted education as well as helping students overcome challenges and disabilities from more than two decades teaching in public and private schools. She taught at P.S. 6 (Manhattan) and St. Croix Country Day School (U.S. Virgin Islands), and served as principal at Island Village Montessori, a Sarasota charter school. The vision: Star Lab intends to emphasize “learning and joy.” According to the Drexel Fund, Rini’s vision is a true collaboration between teachers, families and students that offers self-paced progress in each subject, real-time feedback and project-based learning. The school will allow students to run and play every hour and offer mindfulness exercises. Alison Rini, in her own words: “A student’s path is not aligned to grade levels, but to academic skills. Students can progress at their own pace through each content area – they can move faster or slower as needed.” Where Rini got help and where you can, too: The Drexel Fund is a national venture philanthropy that provides financial support and mentoring to educational entrepreneurs seeking to launch and scale private schools focused on underserved communities. Drexel will offer free information sessions starting Oct. 10 for first-time private school founders to learn the basics of school development and hear from leaders who have launched private schools. Founders who are already on the path to opening schools may apply for the Founders Program, a one-year paid fellowship that helps leaders continue to plan and open schools in Florida, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Louisiana, North Carolina and Arizona. The Drexel Fund announces Star Lab as one of its chosen schools for its 23-24 portfolio. Launched in 2015, The Drexel Fund is a nonprofit venture philanthropy fund that seeds new school models, scales networks of existing schools with a track record of academic and operational excellence, and strengthens the educational ecosystems needed to create the market conditions necessary for new private schools serving low-income students to thrive.
Star Lab's founder, Alison Rini, has been a teacher and school leader for over 20 years. Along with her partner, Mydahlia Glover, she plans to combine Montessori learning principles and a mastery-based model to create Star Lab. In this context, “mastery-based” refers to a system whereby a student advances to the next lesson once they have demonstrated mastery of a learning unit, skill, or concept. When implemented well, the system gives teachers more flexibility to teach and coach students individually. Alison was also selected as a fellow by 4.0 Schools, a new-school incubator focused on community-centered education innovation. Star Lab will be located in Newtown, a historic Black community within Sarasota. |
“It’s time to reimagine school and create a place that promotes high levels of learning in a joyful atmosphere for students, teachers, and families. Let’s build upon our past experiences to design a program to truly engage our students’ hearts and minds. The children are our future - let’s give them the knowledge and skills to build a better tomorrow!” Archives
May 2024
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