Mission: To provide each student with a successful transition into high school through a variety of educational and social opportunities in a positive, nurturing learning community.
Why Freshman Academies?
The Freshman Academy is designed to help our students make successful transitions from middle school to high school. All freshmen are placed in a structured, nurturing environment with a common team of teachers for their core academic classes. Freshmen have an opportunity to take electives outside of the Academy for the other periods during the school day.
Freshman Academy Goals
- Increase student academic and social engagement
- Increase involvement in community and school extra-curricula activities
- Increase positive, responsible behavior
- Increase attendance
- Increase proficiency on all assessments
- Increase our four-year graduation rate
Staffing in the Freshman Academies
Each Academy will be composed of teams of teachers who will teach the core subjects—English, mathematics, social studies and science courses. These teachers will have common planning periods which will not only allow them to plan interdisciplinary units, but also allow them to plan comprehensive support systems to benefit the learning of all of the students on their team. These teams understand the strategic goals and core beliefs of our school district and will work together to
- Improve academic skills and understanding for all students.
- Establish strategies to help students make a successful transition by making connections across subject areas.
- Provide strategies for ongoing recognition of student accomplishments.
- Develop relationships with parents to keep them involved in the Academy’s work.
- Develop greater extracurricular and community involvement for all ninth grade students.
- Put strategies in place to improve student attendance and decrease ninth grade discipline referrals.
- Provide positive, interactive advisory experiences for all students.
The Freshman Academy team members will be responsible for the students in the Academy. The team will meet regularly to evaluate student progress and will have regular consultations with other teachers who teach elective courses to freshmen students.
The Advisory Program
In order to ensure that students begin to develop a connection with one another, weekly advisories will be held. The advisory sessions will give additional opportunities for building relationships between students and staff as well as provide opportunities for monitoring and dispensing important information (study skills, college/ career planning and personal developmental issues. Advisories may also include freshman seminars and team-building activities. Some Advisory topics will include:
- Study Skills
- Communication Skills
- College and Career Planning
- Making Smart Decisions
- Anger and Feelings
Building Community
The transition into high school is very difficult, and so many students have a difficult time assimilating into high school. Maybe this occurs because of the loss of a sense of community and belonging they experienced in middle school. The Freshman Academy is designed to quickly begin to build that sense of community through advisories, special programs, team-building activities and field experiences.
Through these activities students will have opportunities to build friendships with other students as well as to connect with their family of teachers.
