Center for Excellence hosts open house today
LEOMINSTER » Leominster Center for Excellence, the city’s newest innovative high school, is holding an open house for district eighth graders from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday to showcase everything it has to offer students.
As part of the Big Picture Learning educational network, LCE utilizes an advisory structure of 15 students per one teacher/adviser.
“Ideally the students and teacher/adviser remain together for all four years,” Principal John Vancelette said. “This fosters the building of close, trusting, positive relationships as well as a deep sense of community and belonging. It becomes more like a family than a class.”
Vancelette said their nontraditional education model gives students the chance to really dive into areas of interest through internships, programs, hands-on experience and more.
“We are truly student-centered,” he said. “Students have
the opportunity to explore their interests and participate in an endless variety of internships with community mentors. Students learn content through their interests and create meaningful projects rather than taking tests. Ideally, students are learning in the real-world as much, if not more, than in the classroom. COVID has made this difficult but we still have more than 65% of our students at internships sites and we have found creative ways to engage in authentic, real-world learning despite the challenges and restrictions.”
LCE is in its second year at its new location, the east wing of Leominster High School.
“This is our first open house in
our new space,” Vancelette said. “We are following all of the COVID precautions we would on a normal school day — masks required, sanitizing stations throughout, and physical distancing.”
This school year is Vancelette’s second as principal. He said in the past LCE held multiple open houses each year.
“I have had a few conversations about hosting another event later in the spring, on a weeknight, during the evening hours,” he said of the inspiration behind this open house. “Last year we were in the process of planning our outreach when the pandemic started so we never had the chance to fully plan the open houses.”
LCE can accept up to 60 students and besides Vancelette has a staff of five teachers/advisers, a school counselor, an academic tutor, and a part time Learning Through Interests (LTI) Coordinator. Vancelette said they are hoping to convey to open house attendees everything that makes LCE unique.
“Another thing worth mentioning is our use of restorative practices to build community and repair harm,” he said. “We try to avoid punitive consequences whenever possible.”
Vancelette said Leominster “is an amazing school district” because it provides three viable yet quite different education options that are available to all high school students.
“Students interested in a more traditional education can attend LHS,” he said. “Those who want to explore a specific trade and earn a certification can check out CTEi, and LCE is another option for those seeking a truly innovative, student-centered approach to education.”
Leominster Center for Excellence is located at 122 Granite St. For more information, email john.vancle tte@ leominsterschools.org, visit https:// lce.leominsterschools.org/, and follow Leominster Center for Excellence on Facebook and Instagram.