Academics at Hope Academy

A Culture of Celebration and Growth

Hope Academy commits to celebrate student achievements and growth milestones, acknowledging the hard work, perseverance, and dedication of students, teachers, and families. We recognize that student achievement comes in the forms of test scores, art projects, basketball goals, and kindness on the playground. 

Hope Academy educators engage in ongoing professional development and coaching to enhance their instructional practices, data analysis skills, and strategies for supporting equitable student achievement and growth.

Hope Academy regularly reviews and evaluates the effectiveness of our goal-setting processes, instructional practices, and support systems, making adjustments as needed to ensure continuous improvement and success for all students.

Curriculum

The Hope Academy GSO curriculum serves a two-fold purpose of developing foundational skills mastery and unleashing the joy of learning through immersion in a wide variety of disciplines.

For core programming in Kindergarten through Eighth Grade, Hope Academy utilizes EL Education for language arts and Eureka Math²®  for math. These two educational approaches prioritize student engagement, deep understanding, and real-world application of knowledge. While EL Education focuses on experiential learning and character development, Eureka Math emphasizes coherence, focus, and rigor in mathematics instruction. Both approaches have been widely adopted in schools across the United States and have demonstrated effectiveness in promoting student learning and achievement. For foundational reading skills, we integrate resources from EL Education, Heggerty, and Wilson Reading System®.

Opportunities for the arts, field trips, outdoor education, and physical fitness are also integral parts of the curriculum.

Our approach to biblical integration within the curriculum is grounded in the Teaching for Transformation framework and journey, as described below.

Teaching for Transformation

Teaching for Transformation  (from the Center for the Advancement of Christian Education) is a series of professional development which leads teachers and staff in the creation of a schoolwide biblical framework. Through the TfT framework, Hope students’ everyday experiences will help them learn and grow in a way that not only teaches facts but transforms their hearts and minds to see God's story in everything and everyone around them. 

Example: In the TfT framework, students are taught that they are not just artists - but they are “Beauty Makers.” As “Beauty Makers,” students are called to glorify God by creating that which is beautiful and pleasing to Him. Creating art is a joyful duty because through Creation, we see that God loves diversity, complexity, and creativity. Teaching for Transformation provides students with avenues to live out Christian beliefs in action and not be satisfied with just "head-knowledge".

Homework

At Hope Academy GSO homework is a critical part of the learning process allowing students to develop into independent learners who are capable of taking individual responsibility for academic work in high school and beyond.

Hope Academy GSO will create assignments that will enable students to learn and practice organizational skills, self-directed learning, time management and independent study skills. As students matriculate, these skills will be vital tools that students will use to become successful students and professionals in our community.

Parents will be asked to commit to both providing a quiet learning space in the home for studies and to commit to ensuring that all assignments are completed.

Testing

NWEA’s MAP (Measurement of Academic Progress) Growth Test is a nationally standardized, multiple-choice test that determines student achievement and growth over time. MAP Growth is an interim assessment that is administered periodically during the school year (Fall, Winter, and Spring,) so that Hope educators and families can see a student’s growth over time. MAP Growth is a computer-adaptive test that adjusts to each student’s performance, rather than asking all students the same questions.

Hope Academy also utilizes FastBridge, a research-based universal screener and progress monitoring tool with intervention recommendations. Hope Academy’s intervention team and educators triangulate information from FastBridge, NWEA MAP Growth, and qualitative/quantitative curricular assessments to holistically identify student academic needs. 

Hope Academy believes that as image-bearers, all students are uniquely equipped by God to fulfill their roles in His story. We understand that students come from different cultural, linguistic, and learning backgrounds and bring to school a variety of talents and skill sets. 

Although we believe that one test cannot fully measure a child’s talents and capacity, all children are capable of learning and we relish in the celebration of a child’s growth. Hope Academy teachers and staff believe that testing is one tool which can be leveraged to fulfill our mission to educate, encourage, and equip students. We believe that by establishing open lines of communication and regular conferencing, families and educators can partner together to gain valuable insights that inform instructional strategies and support mechanisms for all students.