Why The Academy?

What Sets Us Apart

The biggest thing that makes The Academy unique among many schooling options in our area is that we are a PK-12 charter with the opportunity to impact kids across a journey of as many as 14 years of their lives and we have the autonomy to do it in an intentional, responsive way. The journey starts here…

Our approach to vertically aligning that journey for our students from youngest to oldest centers around three notions we call Navigational Stars – Prepare, Explore, and Empower – that keep us grounded in The Academy’s mission and vision as we set priorities and make decisions that impact instruction and school culture. All three Navigational Stars – Prepare, Explore, and Empower – simultaneously occur in a complete, cyclical fashion at each grade level to honor every student’s need to access all three as well as in a progressive, stepped fashion across grade levels to honor key points of emphasis along the spectrum of childhood development.

When we say Prepare, we mean all students develop the academic skills needed to prepare for lifelong success.

When we say Explore, we mean all students explore their strengths and passions through real-world learning.

When we say Empower, we mean all students practice habits of mind that will empower them to lead their own futures.

When our community members see The Academy logo, we want it to conjure an image in their minds of the Pre-K to Graduation journey, and we want them to know that the Navigational Stars we will follow to make the journey are Prepare, Explore, and Empower. We will know we have succeeded in building this connection, when our teachers see The Academy logo and they know how we want them to teach; when our students see it and they know how we want them to learn; when our families see it and they know why they are excited to be a part of this community.