Addenbrooke Classical Academy

Addenbrooke Classical Academy is in its infancy. It’s just begun its journey in creating a quality, classical education for its students.
This year is the Second year for the middle school/high school and the first for elementary. (I’m hoping I’m right about those numbers…) Because of its infancy there are still a lot of things that the faculty and staff are ironing out, but I felt that this was a well-run school despite the fact that they are in two different buildings.
I was reassured that by next year, all grades would be in the same school building. The principal, Charles, was eager and excited about some properties that were possibilities and was hopeful that there would be a decision made by the end of January.

ACA focuses on a classical education.
A cursory summary of this is an education that perhaps Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin might have received. A focus on the core educational principles of literature, Latin, science, math and music. Nothing that we haven’t seen before in an educational setting (though Latin really isn’t a language that is taught much any more)

Wikipedia was a great source for information on a more in depth explanation:

“The term “classical education” has been used in Western culture for several centuries, with each era modifying the definition and adding its own selection of topics…the definition of a classical education embraced study of literature, poetry, drama, philosophy, history, art, and languages.[1] In the 20th and 21st centuries it is used to refer to a broad-based study of the liberal arts and sciences, as opposed to a practical or pre-professional program.”
And there is more on the Wikipedia page, feel free to go and read some more.

Because the schools are in separate locations I toured them on separate days. I loved the enthusiasm and dedication of both the principals and felt whole-heartedly that they had the greatest of desires to share their love of learning with their students.
In the elementary school, they teach core knowledge (that is NOT the same as common core) – which, as I’ve come to hear that term more and more from different charter schools; its just the core education that we all know: math, history, literature, English, music, and art.
The things that I liked most about the elementary school are that all the classes are pretty small, which isn’t all that surprising since this is the first year. However, they want to keep class sizes small and cap them out at around 25 even as they continue to grow.
The other thing that the principal stressed with me as we chatted after my tour was the desire they had to teach a LOVE of the English language and of reading before stressing the grammar of it. With this approach, the child already wants to read because they love it and will naturally move into an understanding of the schematics of the English language.

The middle school/ high school is just as dedicated to its students. The things I liked the most:

• Small class sizes as well. With the desire that as the school continues to grow, they will stay that way.
• Extremely strong emphasis on a musical/education and training. Every student takes a music class; orchestra (there is a beginning one as well as an advanced), guitar or piano. (right now choral is only offered in elementary, but as the school combines, the goal is to offer choral in the middle/high school as well)
  This is a great little video from TED-ed explaining the long-term positive effects of playing a musical instrument.
• There is an impressive reading list for the middle/high schoolers. It’s right on the website for each grade and I LOVE it. That love of reading again! Awesome!
• Socratic seminar in the high school setting where the teacher guides the students in classroom discussion, really allowing the students to share the views and ideas and thus teaching themselves in this setting.
• The founder/principal of ACA, Charles, is a HUGE cheerleader for his teachers. He couldn’t say enough amazing things about each classroom we passed. At one it was: “She is amazing, her credentials are outstanding. (and then he’d list them)I was so lucky to get her.” I was extremely impressed with his enthusiasm for his faculty and staff.
• Every student in middle school (6th-8th) takes Latin. As they move up into high school, they may continue with Latin or move to Spanish (the hope is to offer German in the future as well)
• The last period of every day is study hall. Thus allowing the teachers to be there for any help needed by the students. Charles said that they had tried different times for study hall but he felt that this was the best use of the teacher’s time and the students’ time.

I really liked my tour with both schools and felt that their desire to focus on the “child” by maintaining small class sizes. I would encourage you to set up your own tour and feel for yourself the dedication and enthusiasm that both of the principals have for their students and the course work.

STEM School Academy

STEM School

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. They teach Core Knowledge and have a variety of electives and before and after school clubs, groups and activities for the students. The students are tested in Math as they are accepted into the school to see where their placement lies. Just because a student is in 6^th grade (or any grade), it doesn’t mean that they will be doing just 6^th grade curriculum. The math is the central deciding factor in this placement. How well they do in the math testing will determine where the student needs to be placed for his/her math class. It isn’t uncommon for a 6^th grader to be in an 8^th grade Algebra class or any other class. The students are placed in classes based on their knowledge level (for an easier term, I would call it ability grouping)

WOW! This school is completely phenomenal! This is the school’s fourth year and they are zooming along at a clip with no signs of a slow down in their growth.
The school serves students grade 6-12 and is looking at the possibility of expanding K-5. (That would be awesome)
I brought along my (soon-to-be) middle-schooler with me so that I could get his impression on the school as well.
(Especially since this is one of the school’s we are seriously considering having him attend next year)
He loved the school!

The school is located in a business park and is actually kind of nondescript and you could easily pass by it if you didn’t really know what you were looking for. But make no mistake, inside, it is a school. Visitors can enter the lobby and sign in at the front desk, but the rest of the school is locked off so that you either need to have a badge to scan or be buzzed in by someone in the office. The school takes its security of their students extremely seriously

STEM does scheduled tours pretty much every Wednesday morning at 10. You don’t need an appointment and the tour is included in their school calendar found in the right side of their website.
The tour was very thorough and inviting. I say “inviting” because it wasn’t just a “walk-though” of the school. We were invited into the classrooms to talk with the students and teachers; to ask questions about what they were doing and the curriculum of that particular class.

The biggest thing that stood out to me: hands on learning (HUGE for me).

We went into a music class where there were all middle school grades in the class, with students doing various things. Two were working with a mix board and a computer to make different sounds. Another handful of students were working with the teacher on chord progression on the guitar and yet another group was working on something else.

In the history classroom for 6^th grade, the students had been learning about ancient Greek and Roman history and they were placed in groups to write a play. So some were working on their scripts and others were figuring out costumes.
We also poked our heads into a classroom where the students were working on a worksheet about tectonic plates. The students were using Oreos to theorize and visualize what the earth’s crust and plates would look like crushed and broken (it was pretty cool, even if I didn’t understand it all!).

The school offers Chinese, Spanish and French as foreign language and there is also music, art and gym. Before and after school clubs/activities vary by month but there are a lot to choose from. For October, there is offered: Amateur Radio Club, Anime Club, Band & Orchestra, Bike Club, Breakfast Club, Chess Club, Dungeons & Dragons Club, Fencing, Mine craft Club and a whole bunch more. If you are interested to learn more about each of the activities, these are under the “academy” tab on the top bar on the home page.

Because this is a 21^st century school, the students don’t have textbooks but are required to provide, for themselves a laptop where they access their textbooks and assignments. Every classroom we visited, the students had them out and were using them. This isn’t something that will be lugged around for no reason. The school also has very specific guidelines to follow when purchasing a laptop for your student, which is very helpful.

The school offers choice enrollment, with a form available beginning on November 1^st. (Found a the very top of the home page) Enrollment ends on January 6^th (so you have lots of time to fill that form out). The lottery will commence on January 7^th and students that are drawn during the lottery will be contacted within the week. Each grade has about 235 students and, for obvious reasons, the most slots available will be for the 6^th graders.

I did ask how many open spaces they anticipate for the 7^th grade and was told about 30. Since the school will be enrolling for its 5^th year, there are possibly more spots for 10^th through 12^th grade. But there are no guarantees. (So basically, don’t take my word on any of this, if you really want to know the specifics, you should call the school yourself – or better yet, take a tour!)
There are not priority placing for inside the county; the only priority is for staff or siblings (which is pretty common across the charter school gamut).

Overall, I was and continue to be insanely impressed with this school. Sending my son to middle school has been a decision with much anxiety for me. I want to make sure that I’m sending my son to a school that will help him develop all those skills and talents that are just waiting to emerge. AND that he wouldn’t have to move when high school came around. This is a school that I really felt would be a good fit for my son. (And I’m really hoping that the begin offering the elementary grades soon. I’m sure they will!)

And just a reminder that this review is just MY opinion of the school. I also could have gotten some of the information wrong. I’m truly sorry if that has happened, if I did, it was completely unintentional. There was a lot to remember, notice and see during the tour and I tried to get it all down and remember it all. But if you want all the facts, go visit them yourselves.

Collegiate Academy

I went and toured Collegiate Academy, a public Charter school in Jefferson County that serves kindergarten through 12th grade. The school is not far from my kids current elementary school, so I knew that it was a possibility for us.

I had called the school wanting to know about tours and there are no set tours, but if you want a tour just call the school and ask for a tour. I was able to go in the next day and tour the school. It is a one-on-one tour and based on the availability of the principal/vice-principal.

Their website is extremely thorough in explaining the school goals and expectations of the students. I did have questions about the difference between common core and core knowledge. Gus did explain it to me, but my understanding of core knowledge is still a little fuzzy and will take me doing my own research to discover the differences.

A great website for that information is right here. I found it very easy to understand after I read the information on their site.

Class sizes are about 25, which I found to be average, but the term that Gus used was “small class sizes”. For middle school they do a block schedule where two core subjects are taught on MW and two on TTH at about 70 minutes per class, then all four on Friday with shorter time periods. It was explained to me that this way it is easier for the student to grasp the understanding of concepts and if a student is absent, it is easier for them to catch up the work they may have missed.
This was a concept that caught my attention and one that I really grasp onto.

The school encourages peer leadership amongst all grade levels, including service in the school community (for example; the middle school kids holding a spaghetti dinner and movie night for the elementary kids) as well as in the greater community as the kids get into high school.

The other thing that I liked, that I read on the website, as well as was talked about during my tour was the fact that students are taught according to their ability level not on their grade level, called “ability grouping,” which allows students to learn at different paces. In the words of the website: “…allowing education to be tailored to the student rather than a one-size-fits-all instruction model.”

Another difference between a Core Knowledge school and what children might experience in another school is that art and music are essential elements of the Sequence, not add-on subjects that are sometimes squeezed out because of funding cutbacks or other priorities.

Lastly, the vice-principal suggested having my son come in January or there about to come and do a follow along with another student so that he could get a feel for the school as well. He would follow for about half a day first in the sixth grade and then a little in the seventh, so that he could see what it would be like for him next year.

My overall opinion of the school is great. I liked how I was treated and how when the tour of the school was completed, the Vice-Principal sat down with me in his office and was willing to answer any questions that I might have (I had a lot), as well as gave me his business card and told me contact him at any time if I came up with any more questions.

If you have any opinions about Collegiate Academy and would like to share, please comment!

The Why

When your kids were in preschool, were you thinking about where you wanted to send them to elementary school?
Did it come as a shock to you that you actually didn’t have to have them attend the neighborhood public school?
Did you know about all the options available to you?

When your child began elementary school, were you happy with the teacher, the school’s view on how to teach that education, the principal?
Did you just leave your child there because you just really didn’t know what to do or how to go about finding the right education for your child’s need?

My hope is that no one ever has a terrible experience in regards to the education of their child(ren).
But bluntly speaking: education in our country is designed for the masses — not for the individual.
Kind of a problem when everyone is well — an individual.

And an important individual with specific ways of learning, and perhaps specific learning disabilities as well.

My goal with this publication is that through my experiences touring different schools and seeking out that “individual” education for our children — for the thinkers and movers and lawmakers of the next generation–that you, as a parent of that amazing, wonderful, talented, intelligent child will feel and know that YOU are in control of your child’s education — and no one else.

With that being said, I feel that it is important for me to present a little back story so that you can understand my passion in this venue.
I come from a family of five children. The three below me were home schooled.
My older brother and I were traditionally, completely public educated children, pre-teen and teenagers.
We were both happy, we did well enough…

My mother took matters into her own hands when my second to youngest brother was struggling in the 4th grade in math. The teacher; struggling to teach 29 other students, keep up with the required teaching plan and keep the other children entertained had no time to stop and help my brother and he was falling through the cracks.
(My mom can tell this story so much better than me and someday I will have her tell you her story and journey of homeschooling).

My parents felt no sympathy from the teacher or the principal. So instead of watching their intelligent — yet not on track with the rest of his classmates — son fall and loose himself because he didn’t fit the mold of public education, they took him out of public school and began homeschooling him and my youngest brother.
My younger sister decided to join them her sophomore year of high school and took independent study courses from BYU.

All my siblings are beyond intelligent, amazing adults — I am often in awe of their intelligent minds and so proud of my parents (my mom especially, since she is the one that took on the teacher role) for choosing the right education that fit the needs of their children.
They didn’t just accept what was and hope for the best.

We parents must take control of our children’s education and choose it!

Because of my parents example I was super-proactive in choosing the school my boys attend. They attend a Montessori Charter school in Jefferson County (Colorado)
We’ve had our challenges, my oldest son has ADHD and its been a struggle — but with open communication between the teachers and principal we’ve made it work.
My second son has impulse issues — again the blessings have come through open communication and working with the teacher. (It does help that they both have had phenomenal teachers)

Many school district’s websites have great directories of all the schools that are in their boundaries — traditional public, charter, open schools and other educational opportunities. (You can check Jeffco’s site here)
But they are generalized, impersonal and, at best, give you barely any information at all.

How is a parent supposed to make the right decision based on just that information?

Son #1 is in his last year in this school and in elementary school — I am on the lookout, once again for the right school (and environment, I might add) that will meet the needs of my exceptional child as he enters middle school next fall.

I’m picky, I’m determined and I want to share with you.

If you ever want to share your own opinions or views about a school that you’ve toured, please contact me and you can do a guest post.
I know I’m limited. I can only go to so many schools.
I live in Colorado — not everyone does (such a shame really…)

All I ask is please be kind. These are just my opinions, they might not be your opinions. I’m ok with that. I’m not trying to make you see how I see.
I have my own children’s well-being in mind when I go visit a school. I’m looking through my eyes at my boys needs. Your children will have different needs than I’m looking for.
Don’t be harsh in your comments; I welcome them, I welcome your views, I need them; but don’t be mean. That’s just not nice and we parents need to be there for each other, we need to help each other as we seek to find the best education for our children.

So yes, Thumper said it best: “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.”

share your opinions, but be nice about it — I would do the same if the roles were reversed.

My first school review will be up soon.
So check back!