Rock Creek International School was established in 1988 as an academically-challenging school wherein children from around the world could pursue bilingualism, the study of diverse peoples, and conflict resolution as integral and prominent components of the curriculum. It is the only school in the United States which offers dual-language immersion in English and the choice of Arabic, French or Spanish. Over 60 countries are represented in the student population.

One of RCIS’ best practices is a two-week mediation exercise which serves as the culminating activity for the Peace and Conflict Unit studied by fifth and sixth graders. This school year the students selected for investigation the political conflict between India and Pakistan over the sovereignty-seeking region of Kashmir. In October 2004, after four weeks of research and analysis, the students formally convened as representatives of the three political entities in order to negotiate the fate of Kashmir. Together the students successfully arrived at a peaceable solution.

Noel Sheppard, the fifth grade English teacher, aptly describes the benefit to this challenging academic exercise: “It gives children a chance during an extremely sophisticated role play to demonstrate their understanding and acquisition of the skills necessary to resolve conflicts by reducing them to their most basic level.”

Learn more about Rock Creek International School :

• Visit their Web site.
• Read this recent article about the school.

Last updated: Monday, September 6, 2010 | 13:15:15