An environment in which all learners feel a sense of belonging, trust others, and feel encouraged to tackle challenges, take risks, and ask questions.  Students develop habits of mind and patterns of thinking that are needed for success in school and life, such as curiosity, reasoning, reflecting, and questioning skills, as well as problem-solving, and striving to communicate effectively.

• Dignity Honored

  • We honor dignity by recognizing, regarding, and commending the reality of the equal worth of each human being.  Dignity is innate in the person.  It just is.  It is universal and fixed.

• Safe and Supportive Environment

  • The fostering of a dynamic learning environment in which students feel physically and emotionally safe, feel included, and can work and collaborate effectively.

• Social Emotional Learning

  • SEL is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.

Instructional targets that intentionally provide learning opportunities for students to develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are needed to be successful in all facets of life after graduation.

• Authentic Learning Experiences

  • A wide variety of educational and instructional techniques focused on connecting what students are taught in school to real-world issues, problems, and applications.

• Transferable Goals

  • Learning targets can be applied to multiple educational settings and transferred to use in the real world.

• Life Ready Skills

  • The knowledge, skills, and dispositions that students will need to be successful in all facets of their lives both in school and after graduation.

Teachers engage all students in a rigorous learning environment, practice high-yield instructional strategies, and utilize student-driven and data-informed practices. At the same time, the teacher is responsive to the needs and interests of the individual student, as well as to relevant issues, concerns, and/or needs.

• Rigorous Standards-Based Curriculum

  • Instruction that expands students’ ability to think, act, and communicate effectively.  Students will be challenged to demonstrate a deeper understanding of concepts and content.

• High-Yield Instructional Strategies

  • Specific instructional strategies that enable schools to positively impact student achievement when implemented consistently and with support.

• Data Informed Decisions

  • Students are provided a variety of opportunities to demonstrate understanding and growth. Assessment information is used to inform instructional practices and modify curriculum.

An educational approach that recognizes the unique interests and passions of every learner and makes students the primary agents of their learning.

• Personalized and Customized Learning

  • Student-centered classrooms characterized by a diverse variety of educational programs, learning experiences, instructional approaches and academic-support strategies that are intended to address the distinct learning needs,  interests, aspirations, and cultural backgrounds of individual students.

• Learner Ownership

  • When a learner is motivated, engaged, and self-directed, they are empowered to  monitor their own progress and are able to reflect on their learning based on mastery of content.

• Learner Choice and Voice

  • Students are intentionally involved in the way that they learn and are assessed.  This includes participation in the development of goals and projects, the selection of resources used for learning, implementation of time management, strategies, and the demonstration of what they have learned.