Academics

English

At the Academy, our English courses focus on various genres of literature and modes of writing with an emphasis on developing composition skills through the learning and practice of the writing process. The material in class is brought to life through readings and projects of varying lengths and complexities completed both in and out of the classroom. Genres covered in our courses include, but are not limited to, poetry, memoirs, essays, letters, speeches, short stories, novels, novellas, and dramas.
Students will engage in American Literature, World Literature, and Language & Composition with the possibility of expanding their knowledge in a variety of AP and CE courses.

Math

When students understand concepts, they link ideas together in meaningful ways so that there are fewer discrete things to learn. Mathematics is not about memorizing how to get right answers. It is about recognizing and using underlying structures and patterns to see how seemingly disparate ideas are connected.

The Academy's high school grades use the enVision curriculum as a core element of a range of required math courses. Discovery and exploration is at the forefront of our practices. Giving students the opportunity to explore how concepts are connected to applications outside of school lets them invest in their own learning. Project based learning and verbal assessments are a few ways our educators use different methods to evaluate the depth of students' knowledge. enVision is the only math program that combines problem-based learning and visual learning to deepen students’ conceptual understanding and is used by classrooms across the country and around the world.

Science

The Academy's Science Department aims to awaken the inquisitive minds of students and encourage them to be curious about the why of things. Whether exploring the fundamental building blocks of nature, the structures of living organisms, or the forces that drive our universe, students will develop scientific reasoning and critical thinking skills that will be invaluable in college and beyond. The skills of scientific thinking are achieved through rigorous academic work, lab and research-based projects, and daily engagement with challenging, real-world problems.

Social Studies

The Academy's Social Studies Department creates capable citizens who are empowered with the skills and knowledge to make responsible decisions in a diverse world. Students develop skills in evidence-based reading and writing, critical thinking, problem-solving, and building interpersonal relationships. Students will engage in World Geography, World History, US History, and Government with the possibility of expanding their knowledge in a variety of AP and CE courses.

Visual Arts

The Academy’s High School visual arts program offers courses in art foundations, drawing and painting, mixed media, ceramics, and digital Photography.

Theater Arts

The Academy’s theater arts program emphasizes opportunities for students to create and perform their own original works.

Performing Arts

The Academy High School offers Band, Choir and Orchestra. Band offers wind and percussion musicians the chance to participate in a large ensemble with multiple annual performance opportunities. Choir is open to any student who enjoys singing and wishes to sing as part of a team. Orchestra offers string musicians the chance to participate in a large ensemble with multiple annual performance opportunities. 

Blended Honors Guidelines

All students will be given the opportunity to explore class content at a greater depth, requiring further evaluation of information and synthesis between topics. Students will develop their critical thinking, problem-solving, and analysis skills at a higher level.

To earn Honors Credit:

• Many homework or classwork assignments will have an Honors Version OR a couple of challenging questions that the Honors students should complete. Honors students must complete at least 80% of these challenge questions at a successful level.
• Each project will include a required Honors Extension.
• Each test will have a few questions that are either Regular or Honors questions. Both tests will be worth the same amount of points. To earn Honors Credit, the student must score at least a 60% on the Honors Questions. The student may miss the 60% mark on one Honors Test per semester and still receive Honors Credit.
• For consistent communication, all teachers will mark every assignment at Honors Level with a Collected Checkmark in PowerSchool.

Weighting

Grading is weighted according to the following categories:

• 30% Classwork/Homework/Participation Points (Process).
• 70% Assessments (Product).

Academic Honors

• Students with a GPA of 3.0-3.49 receive academic recognition. 
• Students with a GPA of 3.5-3.99 qualify for the Honor Roll. 
• Students with a GPA of 4.0 qualify for high honor roll and may receive special academic recognition. 

Late Work

Late work (classwork, homework, and assessments) is accepted up to one week late for minus 20% and is not accepted after that. Extended time for SPED students for late work must be clearly indicated with a due date at time and a half. Assessments (projects and papers) may be handed in up to one week late for minus 20% but the student is then ineligible to retake or redo that assessment. Performance assessments received after the one week deadline will receive up to 50% only. Please make this VERY clear to students from the beginning and throughout the year.

Students will be allowed two days for every day absent to make up work, at which time it will fall under the above late work policy.  Teachers may approve special requests for deadline extensions in the case of family or personal events affecting a student’s ability to complete the work on time.

Credit Recovery

Failed courses can be retaken through an online credit recovery program or an approved summer school program.
Courses taken for credit in an approved summer school program will be recorded on the student’s permanent record, and grades and credits received will apply toward graduation. 
All letter grades earned in summer school will be recorded on the student’s transcript and included in the cumulative GPA. 

Summer school credits cannot fulfill specific graduation requirements (unless the course is to make up a course that was failed), with the exception that prior written approval is obtained from the High School Principal.  Only those summer school courses taken after the completion of one semester of ninth grade will appear on a student’s senior high school permanent record. 
 

Homework assigned at The Academy 9-12 supports student learning within the classroom. These activities also provide important feedback to teachers on student progress in achieving standards.

An increasing amount of independent homework is considered necessary and is expected of secondary students. For students at the secondary level, homework loads will be affected by individual course selections. Across different programs, it is the degree of difficulty and complexity that distinguishes assignments rather than amount of work given. Secondary building homework guidelines should address the issue of reasonable homework expectations in all programs.

The purposes of homework at the secondary level include: practice/review; preparation for subsequent lessons; extension of previously learned material to new situations; and integration of separately learned skills into a single product.
 

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

Inclusion coupled with high expectations is at the heart of The Academy’s approach to supporting diverse learning needs. The Academy has a strong staff of experienced learning support specialists who work hard to implement a high quality multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) with the core belief that all children can succeed. MTSS is defined as a prevention-based framework of team-driven, data-based problem solving for improving the outcomes of every student through family, school, and community partnering and a layered continuum of evidence-based practices applied at both the classroom and school levels. MTSS is a framework that uses implementation science to create one integrated system from a wide range of student support options. At The Academy this includes support for students struggling with academics or social-emotional challenges, advanced students, students with disabilities, students learning English as a second language, and more. Our system is designed to support the needs of all students and recognize each individual as a valued and contributing member of our community.

Classroom based interventions (Universal interventions) are those supports and instructional strategies provided to all students to promote successful student outcomes and prevent school failure. An integrated approach views academics and behavior as components of the same support system and realizes the influence
one has on the other. All teachers are willing and able to provide universal interventions to students before more intensive interventions are required.

Advisory

All students are assigned an Advisory 30 minute period each day. Advisory is in place to support academic and social-emotional needs. Each week there will be opportunities for students to focus on making connections with their peers and advisory teacher, have check-in’s on academic progress (grade and assignments checks), and dedicated academic time to do homework, make up tests, or get additional help on work. 

The Summit

Is an optional structured study hall where students can use for quiet study sessions, but can also get individual support and homework help. Students must register for this course, please speak with your counselor to see if this is a good option for you. 

Academic Counseling

The counseling staff at The Academy are here to provide personal / social, academic and career support for our students. Make an appointment or stop in anytime during our office
hours of 8:00-3:30p. Students are welcome to stop by the counseling office without an appointment before school, break, lunch and after school with any questions they may have. (Do not come during class time, as we do not want you to miss instructional time). Parents can call to set up an appointment to meet with a counselor. Counselors are also readily accessible via email and phone.

English Language Learners and English as a Second Language (ELL & ESL)

The Academy has an English as a Second Language Program to help support students whose first language is other than English. There is an ESL Coordinator who supports students in the ESL program to ensure their success in all classes. English Language Learners may register for an ESL class or a Regular Language Arts class, depending on their level of proficiency. Many content area teachers have advanced training in order to provide appropriate language accommodations. Many English Language Learners register for advanced classes in addition to receiving ESL support.

Gifted and Talented (GT):

Gifted and talented students are defined as those whose demonstrated or potential abilities are so outstanding that it becomes essential to provide them with qualitatively different educational programming. At The Academy, these students are identified using multiple criteria. Programming for gifted and talented students will be designed to meet students' cognitive and affective needs through opportunities for acceleration, complexity of thinking and in-depth learning. A plethora of Advanced, Advanced Placement (AP), and college concurrent enrollment classes with Front Range Community College are available for students.

Special Education

Special education services and supports are provided to students who cannot access their
Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) because of the impact of their identified disability. All students are general education students first. Special education provides support and services so that students can access the general education curriculum. The federal law that regulates this is called The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which was reauthorized in 2004. It ensures that children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education with special education and related services designed to meet their particular needs.

Counseling

The Academy's Counseling Team aims to support and promote exemplary, college-ready citizens across academic, personal, social, college and career domains in alignment with the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) standards in order to prepare our students for a responsible and successful future. High school counselors serve grades 9-12 split alphabetically. They work with students individually and through classroom guidance lessons. They focus on three pillars of school counseling: social/emotional, college/career and academics.

Schedule Changes and Drop/Add Requests: Students and parents should select classes wisely and carefully during the course selection process. Please be aware that staffing, resources, and course offerings are impacted by these selections. Schedule changes will be made for the following reasons only: a failed course that needs to be re-taken, a course has a prerequisite not yet met by the student, a course is double scheduled, the student has earned previous credit in a course, a course is required for graduation, or grade-level misplacement. Students must be enrolled in a minimum of seven (7) courses, including three (3) to four (4) core subjects (English, Social Studies, Science, or Math), evenly divided per semester. Classes may be added in the first three days of a given semester if there is room in the class and if it fits into the open period. Schedules will not be changed to create the open period. 

In the Fall Semester, any course that is dropped after the 10th day of school will result in a “WF” (withdrawal failing) on the student’s transcript. In the Spring Semester, after 5 days of dropping the class the same applies.