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Intersession

Fall and Spring Intersessions at Paulo Freire

At the end of the First and Third Quarters there is a week of special programming we call ‘Intersession’.  During Intersession students participate in four days of intense learning with a small group of students around one particular theme/topic.  On the fifth day, Intersession groups meet to reflect on their learning and then with the entire community to celebrate together.

Our primary rationale for creating learning experiences outside the classroom walls (whether they be Intersessions, Expeditions, or any of the other field experiences away from the building) is two-fold:

(1) Research shows that building background knowledge significantly improves students’ performance in their academic classes, and

(2) Helping students make connections between what they are learning in the classroom and experiences in the larger world motivates students to want to learn.

An added benefit of our Intersession program results from our efforts to assign your young person to groups with students who are not necessarily their best friends.  This clique-busting assignment strategy and the intensity

of the week-long Intersession experience itself combine to support the forging of new friendships.  Upon completion of Intersession week we have always found the PFFS climate and culture to be significantly changed for the better becoming a much more unified and cohesive community.

Also, placing Intersession in the Fall and Spring (at the end of the First and Third Quarters) gives the school community a much needed energy boost.  Intersession is something both staff and students look forward to twice a year. 

And finally, being able to participate fully in their Intersession becomes a powerful motivator for students to make sure that they are getting their work completed in their core academic classes.  Students who do not have all major school work  satisfactorily completed prior to Intersession have to miss part of their Intersession to work on completion.  For those students who have gotten behind in their academics, the one-on-one instruction time they receive when they are pulled from their Intersession is critically important in helping them to be proficient in the academic core content.

PFFS Students at Intersession

Fall 2022

Photos from Previous PFFSU Intersessions

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