MISSION

Our mission is to put children first by meeting each student where they are in both challenge and support while fostering character and connection, building confidence, and helping them become capable learners who thrive in a balanced approach to learning and life.

EDUCATIONAL FRAMEWORK

Purpose

Our purpose is to provide tailored educational experiences that meet students where they are, respecting their individuality and supporting their growth in a manner that balances learning and life. Our program nurtures the whole child—academically, socially, and emotionally—while fostering a strong sense of community for students and families. We support parents as partners in learning, offer flexible and engaging instruction, and provide individualized challenge and support in a fun, balanced environment that values childhood, curiosity, and personal development.

Values & Guiding Principles

We honor each student as an individual, embracing their strengths and supporting their growth in a flexible, reduced-pressure environment that values the joy of childhood and balanced living. We nurture the whole child—academically, socially, and emotionally—while fostering strong community connections among students, families, and staff. Our approach encourages curiosity, exploration, and meaningful learning experiences, while partnering with parents to provide guidance and support. Integrity, kindness, and respect are central to everything we do, ensuring students develop not only knowledge and skills, but also confidence, resilience, and a sense of belonging.

Instructional Approach

We offer an experiential, collaborative approach where students explore, discuss, and apply concepts through meaningful, hands-on learning at a thoughtful and supportive pace suited to a hybrid setting. Our families value balance in learning and life, and we structure our instruction and course load accordingly. We offer tiered-rigor options, allowing families to select from minimal to moderate levels of home study on focus (home) days. We believe students thrive when learning is both challenging and achievable - never watered down and always purposeful. Lessons are designed to help every learner build confidence and mastery in the core subjects while balancing in-person and independent learning at a pace that fits their needs and schedule.

Curriculum Structure

We offer a dynamic curriculum that uses a range of multi-modal methods, materials, literature, and learning experiences to teach key skills and concepts while also inspiring curiosity, sparking creativity, and fostering critical thinking.

Skill-based subjects such as math and language foundations are taught through a competency-based model that ensures students master each concept before progressing. Students are grouped within their general age band alongside peers working at a similar pace, creating cohesive, supportive learning groups while still honoring individual progress. Content-based subjects are taught through an experiential, multi-resource approach, blending reading, videos, comprehension tasks, hands-on projects, discussions, and creative activities for rich, meaningful learning. These content-area courses are offered on a rotating schedule to ensure all students receive the full range of classes required for a well-rounded education and, at the high school level, for graduation.

Supports & Strategies

Accommodations are an integral part of our program - not an afterthought. We design our classes with diverse learners in mind, incorporating added rigor or supports such as extended time, dyslexia-friendly curriculum, scaffolded instruction, and individualized workload modifications as needed. We also offer specialized learning support cohorts for students needing a more tailored approach. Our teachers provide personal attention and additional help to ensure every student can access the curriculum, demonstrate understanding, and experience success at their own pace.

Monitoring Progress

Assessment is conducted through a variety of modalities that capture students’ growth in multiple ways, including active participation, completion of daily work, low-pressure check-ins, and meaningful demonstrations such as projects, presentations, and applied tasks. We offer two methods of reporting student progress: progression-based reports and traditional letter grades. Progression-based reports are standard through 6th grade and can continue into high school if desired.

Starting in 7th grade, students who complete all coursework including assignments, home study, and check-ins can opt to receive traditional letter grades on a program-issued transcript. Students who experience grade-related anxiety or who prefer to customize their course participation beyond the standard syllabus can receive progression-based reports that reflect their engagement and progress at a flexible pace, with parents assigning the final grade. This dual system supports both full-course participation and individualized learning choices.

An accredited transcript is available to all students through our partner schools.