At CRD, we are committed to creating a community of lifelong learners. Lifelong learners embark on a path of academic, professional and spiritual growth and serve as a renewing force in our community, our country, and our world.
Lifelong learners exhibit persistence and initiative, collaboration, productivity, precision and accuracy, self-direction, and complex-reasoning strategies. Through classroom instruction, counseling, the work study program, extracurricular activities, and modeling by our faculty and staff, CRD introduces students to these lifelong learning behaviors over the course of their education. CRD provides opportunities to practice and refine these behaviors in academic, professional, and spiritual settings.
Persistence and Initiative
CRD students practice and refine the lifelong learning behaviors of persistence and initiative by asking questions; actively participating in school, the community and professional settings; remaining engaged in tasks when answers are not immediately apparent; and setting a series of goals to accomplish a task.
Collaboration
CRD students practice and refine the lifelong learning behavior of collaboration by working together as a group to solve problems and reconcile differences among group members; creating a positive, innovative environment by encouraging group members to respect and challenge each other; and actively listening to others’ thoughts, concerns and opinions.
Productivity
CRD students practice and refine the lifelong learning behavior of productivity by practicing effective time management in the classroom, at work, and in the home; organizing their academic, professional, and spiritual lives; developing plans for attaining, and achieving goals; exhibiting an attention to detail in their academic and professional work; and seeking academic, professional and spiritual guidance when needed.
Precision and Accuracy
CRD students practice and refine the lifelong learning behaviors of precision and accuracy by focusing on details, thoughtfully checking their work for errors, learning from their mistakes, and consciously placing themselves in an environment that is conducive to producing high-quality work.
Self-Direction
CRD students practice and refine the lifelong learning behavior of self-direction by consciously reflecting on the vision they have for themselves via asking hard questions, working with mentors who push them, taking on leadership opportunities within the school community, and defining success on their own terms.
Complex Reasoning Strategies
CRD students practice and refine the lifelong learning behavior of complex reasoning skills by exploring multiple angles of problems, applying existing knowledge and skills to unfamiliar problems, breaking down challenges into smaller pieces, and considering different approaches to tasks.
We recognize that mastery of these lifelong learning behaviors is, in itself, a lifelong learning process, and we strive to encourage our students to employ a growth mindset to the development of these behaviors. Our students’ active exposure to and refinement of these lifelong learning behaviors, however, creates the foundation of skills and knowledge continual academic, professional, and spiritual growth.