About Us

CSE's Vision:
Community School of Excellence (CSE) parents, staff, students, and community will be committed as a team to provide a quality education for all students to achieve high academic expectations, and connect globally to Hmong students in Laos, Thailand, China, and Vietnam.

CSE's Mission:
Community School of Excellence provides a community-based approach to education that emphasizes high academic standards, integrates Hmong language and culture into its curriculum, and promotes parent and community ownership of the school.

21st Century Skills:

Our children today are learning in a world which requires new literacies and skills for success. 21st Century education is: collaborative, innovative, interactive, project-based, and more student-centered than ever before! See how CSE is serving students in each of the 21st Century Literacy areas:

Global Literacy
* Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
* Learners work collaboratively with classmates and others around the world
* Authentic connections with local and global community members
* Global connections beginning in kindergarten
* Preparing students for a globalized, multi-media, integrated society
* Current-event connections across all subject areas

Language Literacy
* Promote effective oral and written communication
* Hmong Literacy for all students: reading, writing, listening,speaking
* Chinese language classes taught by our Exchange Teacher from Beijing
* English Language integration and support; language teaching in all subject areas
* ESL/ ELL Coteachers collaborate with all classes to support language learning

Cultural Literacy:

* Welcoming environment and positive inter-cultural interactions
* Hmong integrations in all curriculum areas
* Units are planned to reflect cultural connections in every subject
* Cooperative learning strategies to promote skills for working with others
* Study of self and the world
* Interpersonal skills as a key element to classroom interactions
* Positive communication with others from cultures and backgrounds which differ from our own
* International Baccalaureate curriculum supports knowledge of self and world cultures

Digital Literacy:
* Web literacy and internet safety
* Accessing and Analyzing Information
* Allowing student to use technology to foster creativity and contributions
* Multiple methods for computing: mobile laptop station, iPod Touches, SMART boards, computer labs
* Expanding use of classroom web 2.0 tools to collaborate with others (skype, edmodo, twitter, so forth)
* Integrating technology as a daily life-skill vs. an add-on
* Teachers continuously learn and add to their own web 2.0 and technology skills
* Administrative support and modeling: follow us on Twitter! @CSEinMN

Creative Literacy:
* Agility and Adaptability
* Curiosity and Imagination
* Promote risk-taking and innovation, classes are not one-size-fits-all
* Flexible teaching methods: use of Garner's Mulitiple Intelligences in all classes
* Opportunities for authentic assessments- with real life audience
* Challenge student to contribute to their society
* CSE's new building has expanded space for: computer labs, Art lab, science lab, gyms, and music space
* Extended day: Hmong cultural enrichment opportunities foster creativity and expression
* IB Application: IB world school students are supported in their personal creativity and service to their community (CAS service projects in all Middle Grades).

Executive Summary:

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!