Children's Community School is part of the Basic School Eastern Consortium and the National Network. This is a network of schools that adhere to the ideas and philosophy of the Basic School by the late Dr. Ernest Boyer, President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Education. It is a school renewal movement that strives to use research proven practices in our schools.

Joy Warner, the Director of CCS, has been involved with the Basic School at a variety of levels and roles for ten years. She served as one of eight national Carnegie Teaching Fellows who worked on Basic School Curriculum. Joy served on the national Basic School Board, is a school-based mentor and a local, national and international consultant for the Basic School Eastern Consortia She also presents at Basic School Institutes which are training conferences for teachers and other educators.

The ideas and philosophy described in the Basic School are the foundational framework for Children's Community School. Every decision made at CCS from budget to curriculum is made by using the guiding principles of the Basic School.

In his book, Basic School, Dr. Ernest Boyer describes his findings, "After completing our research we concluded that the most essential ingredient of a successful school - the one idea that holds it all together -is best described by the simple word "connections." An effective school connects people, to create community. An effective school connects the curriculum to achieve coherence. An effective school connects classrooms and resources, to enrich the learning climate. And an effective school connects learning to life, to build character. These four priorities - community, curriculum coherence, climate, and character are the building blocks for the Basic School. Ultimately, the aim of CCS is not just to build a better school, but, above all, to build a better world for children. It is our deepest hope that not a single child, let alone a whole generation of children, should pass through the schoolhouse door unprepared for the world that lies before them. And there is, we believe, an urgency to this effort. Chilean poet, Gabriela Mistral wrote: "Many things we need can wait. The child cannot. Now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made, his mind is being developed. To him we cannot say tomorrow, his name is today."

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