How did Steller Come to Be?

Steller was founded in 1974 by a group of parents. These parents had kids at Chugach Optional and wanted them to continue their education at an open optional alternative school. The CASE report is the document made by these people, the Committee for Alternative Secodnary Education. The committee then presented their report to the Anchorage School District, and Steller was born.

While some things have changed (for example, the report originally said that all Chugach students got in no-matter-what), many of the ideas remain important. For example, in the section marked “Roles of Participants”, the CASE report defines the roles of students:

Students are responsible, to the extent they are capable, for

1. Defining their own goals in education

2. Selecting or designing a course in education that will help them achieve their goals,

3. Working to fulfill these goals,

4. Assisting in the continuous evaluation of their performance in relation to these goals.

That sounds like Steller in a nutshell - setting goals and meeting them. This type of learning, emphasized in the philosophy as Self Directed Learning, has had a large success rate - with those who are right for it. In fact, the CASE report was the basis for the Steller philosphy. There are many open optional elementary programs that have been established since. Polaris school was established to deal with brimming waitlists for Steller - there weren’t enough spaces for all the kids who wanted to continue with an open optional education.

Has Steller fulfilled the Goals of the CASE report?

Yes…?
Sam, 12th

I think it was written for a school in the past which doesn’t exist anymore, and we need to re-evaluate both our bylaws and our CASE report.
Corey, 10th

I think that the CASE report was a great document, and Steller is a great school, so in that respect, I think we have fulfilled its goals. Things change over time, and I think that although Steller may not look a whole lot like the CASE report school, I think that it’s still a good school.
Analise 11th

< - Previous | Table of Contents | Next - >