Curriculum themes are distinguishable by academy. Houses Houses are the basic units of student organization. Students are part of the same multi-grade house for their entire time in the academy. Students work with all students in the house, not exclusively with same-grade classmates. Classes Classes are flexible in size and composition, depending on instructional goals.
Primary classes are predominately age graded and fixed.
Teams include four to six teachers who work with the same students from the beginning to the end of their time in the academy. Teams are headed by a lead teacher and represent a range of teaching experience. Each teacher becomes a resource for teammates by developing a specialty in a subject area, in ESL, in technology, or in special education. The house team is responsible for the core academic program of instruction and for managing a common group of students in accordance with school policies and assuring their progress in achieving academic standards. A Better Use of Time A longer school day provides 6 hours of dedicated learning time for Kindergarten students and 8 hours for older students.