Core Elements

INQUIRY-BASED INSTRUCTION

We believe that students should drive the learning in the classroom and that, if presented with thoughtfully designed challenges and resources, they are capable of making important discoveries and deepening their own understanding of rigorous content.

The job of our teachers is to develop engaging and rigorous challenges that allow students to test their assumptions, explore new ideas and collaborate with others.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

We focus on five core character traits: collaboration, curiosity, perseverance, professionalism and urgency. Each day, we discuss how these traits manifest in developing strong growth mindset beliefs and in pushing ourselves and others to master difficult concepts.

At the end of every day, we take time to reflect on our personal character and hold sacred our program-wide tradition of “shout outs”, where we recognize each other for exemplifying these character traits and for growing in our strength of character.

Through an integrated, explicit focus on character, we prepare students to thinking critically and meaningfully about the connections among their mindsets, behaviors and outcomes, to prepare them for the challenges they will face as scholars and as community advocates.

SOCIAL
ADVOCACY

Through our leadership course, our students learn more about the history of social issues that continue to affect their communities. Students are encourage to think critically about systems-level solutions to enact community change.

Through our year-round student leadership program, our students come together to participate in strategic planning that shapes ongoing program development. As representatives of the program in their home schools, students are responsible for interfacing with school leaders to implement their ideas and plans.