Ross Plans An Institute

The trustees of the Ross School in East Hampton believe they have hit upon such a successful formula for education that they are planning to establish an institute where scholars from all over the world might develop and share, via computer, teaching methods and curriculum.

The concept for a Ross Institute, while several years from attainment, is the South Fork's most ambitious plan for education since Southampton College was created. When established there would be a 130-acre campus, a "virtual" school, where teachers would train, and the school for actual children, from kindergarten through 12th grade.

The Ross School, which has educated 48 fifth through eighth-grade girls this year, is ready to open a high school in September.

Klein Stepping Down

It will not, however, be run by its present executive director. Shirley Klein, the school's fifth administrator in as many years, is to step down at the end of this academic year, after only a year in the post.

"For personal reasons, it is best for me to continue my relationship with the Ross School as a consultant," said Ms. Klein yesterday. She declined to comment on the frequent turnover, saying recruitment was bringing in a group of new teachers for the fall and that the school was "in solid shape."

So far, no one has been named to replace her, she said, adding that the entire administrative structure would be "revisited" with that in mind over the summer.

Daunting Task

"It will be a daunting task to prepare students for the 21st century. One of the great needs is to prepare teachers to teach for the 21st century," said George Biondo, a lawyer who spent 15 years on the Montauk Public School Board and is now a trustee and spokesman for the private school, which is largely financed by Courtney Sale Ross, an East Hampton resident, and named for her husband, the late Steven J. Ross.

Mr. Biondo said the institute would "bring together the great minds and the great technology and the great shared concern, all together in this one place. I can't think of anything more exciting to have going on in our own backyard, right here in East Hampton."

The high school is to open in September with a dozen ninth-graders, half of them boys. When they move on to the 10th grade, a second coed class of ninth-graders will enroll, and so on until there is a class of 12 in each high school level.

Chronological Curriculum

There are reported to be long waiting lists for middle school enrollment and already for the high school, though Ms. Klein declined to specify how long. Many students attend on scholarship and the student body is deliberately diverse.

The curriculum is now designed as a chronological journey through cultural history. During a recent tour, a selected group of girls explained the educational philosophy.

Kendra Stanchfield drew a spiral, and showed the curve where the eighth grade stood this year - in the Middle Ages and Renaissance - and where the seventh grade stood - in ancient Rome - and the sixth grade - in ancient Greece.

Other Disciplines

She explained that the various disciplines - language, literature, art, music, astronomy, mythology and religious history, social science, performing arts, computers, math, and science - are taught all at once, and in relation to a particular time period. A cross section of the spiral is drawn as a flower, with each petal representing a discipline.

"At the core is the core class, the cultural history. We call it integrated studies because all the subjects are integrated into one class," said Pamela Council, a sixth-grader.

She said her class studied ancient Greece in part by designing Greek urns, using Pythagoras's geometric theory to achieve symmetry and what they had learned about the art and mythology of the period for authenticity.

Student Views

Pamela, who previously attended the Hampton Day School, said at that school, in Bridgehampton, "she was in one class all day, and every day we learned something different. Now it's more organized."

Kinara Ann Flagg, a seventh-grader, said she had been a student at the East Hampton Middle School. "We might study one culture for only two weeks. The subjects had less meaning for me," she said.

Connecting Subjects

When the students were asked if they thought their previous schools had less explicit teaching philosophies, or simply did not share them with the students, Ms. Klein suggested they talk instead about how the Ross method made more sense to them.

Kinara "loved" the public Middle School, "but we learned social studies from a textbook. I didn't understand how everything was connected," she said.

Ms. Klein said each class temporarily departs from the time period it is studying to make comparisons with the 20th century.

"They're really excited about learning. That's how you know it's working," said Ms. Klein, noting a trend toward interdisciplinary learning, which she described as "a more authentic way of learning and teaching."

Forum Romanum

A group of girls went to Rome last year for three weeks, creating a classroom each evening with laptops and, when they returned, a Web page they named Forum Romanum. It was made up of poetry, travel journals, and digital images they had E-mailed home.

"The best three weeks of my life," said Kendra.

Each student is judged by the quality of her portfolio, a collection of her best projects, reports, and other examples of her work. There are no grades.

The high school, however, will be Regents accredited, and students there will have a list of required classes and grades.

The experimental school was founded in 1991 by Ms. Ross and her late husband, Steven J. Ross, after a home-teaching experiment for their daughter, Nicole, grew beyond a handful of Nicole's friends.

Ms. Ross is the philosophical as well as financial force behind the school and apparently has maintained firm control over its day-to-day operations, even requiring new employees to pledge that they will not discuss school matters with outsiders. She has pulled together a diversified board to oversee the school and to work on plans for the teaching institute.

Chance To Share

Mr. Biondo said the State Education Department had given the school "significant cooperation," allowing private schools to be innovative and "not thwarted in every attempt by all the rules, unions, etc."

He said the group had been talking with scholars at "numerous universities, and corporate entities that have the technical capabilities to make the Ross Institute's work widely available."

Aside from hiring a number of retired East Hampton public school teachers, the school has had few links to the surrounding community, among them some athletic competitions, sharing some methodology with the Springs School, and membership in the Peconic Teachers Association.

Ms. Klein said the school wanted its students "to have more contact with other schools" and was hoping the work of the institute would "give us a chance to share."