Our Approach

Student’s gifts and talents are developed through differentiated instruction as supported by the Inquiry Learning & Design Thinking, and the Schoolwide Enrichment Model. Students receive accommodations, not only in assessments, but in the strategies used in Dual Differentiation, which gives targeted remediation where warranted. Time accommodations for growth, processing, transitioning and production are tailored to each student.

Cultivating student potential

Maximizing growth through tailored instruction

Inquiry Learning and Design Thinking

Stanford University spearheaded design thinking, featuring five phases: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test—a flexible yet holistic approach to problem-solving. It starts with empathy to understand users' needs, defines problems, fosters creative idea generation, develops prototypes, and emphasizes iterative testing for continual refinement. Inquiry-based learning aims to help students derive meaning from their studies and understand real-world applications of concepts. Also known as project-based or experiential learning, this method involves students delving into resources, posing questions, and exchanging ideas. Teachers facilitate applying new concepts to various contexts, promoting self-discovery through exploration, experience, and discussion.

Strength-based Learning

Strength-based learning leverages students' identified strengths in two key ways: addressing skill deficits and enhancing engagement with the curriculum through personalized learning approaches. Each student will have a personalized Strength-Based Learning Plan (also called an IPP) encompassing areas of interest, talent development opportunities, product choices, self-advocacy strategies, and recommendations for addressing social-emotional needs. This plan also includes tailored instructional strategies, dual differentiation for areas of strength, and support for identified learning issues.

Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM)

The Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM), pioneered by Drs. Joseph Renzulli and Sally Reis, serves as both an enrichment program for academically gifted students and a magnet theme for all learners, aiming to develop the strengths and talents of every student. Through three core goals, SEM provides enriched learning experiences and higher standards for all children, focusing on talent development, advanced-level enrichment experiences, and follow-up opportunities tailored to individual strengths and interests. With a focus on engagement and personalized learning experiences, SEM supports enrichment for all students, aligning activities with their interests, learning styles, and preferred modes of expression.

Dual differentiation

Effective dual differentiation involves real-world problem-solving and teacher facilitation. 2e students require strategies that engage them through their strengths while mitigating their challenges. Students engage in activities that promote inquiry, diverse information access, creative expression, skill integration, and student empowerment. The dually-differentiated curriculum includes fundamental accommodations such as alternative means of accessing information and methods for expressing ideas and creating products, as well as visual and kinesthetic experiences to make abstract ideas concrete and visual organization schemes.

Curriculum Compacting

Curriculum compacting is a process that allows teachers to tailor instruction to a student's current achievement levels and mastered skills. For skills already mastered, students can engage in enriched learning experiences rather than acceleration. This approach begins with pre-assessments to gauge a student's current achievement and mastered skills. Based on the assessment results, teachers design a project aligned with the student's interests to cover the remaining curriculum.

Mandt System

All staff are trained in Mandt,System which allows us to develop a culture that provides emotional, psychological, and physical safety for everyone, where they can say that “In this place, and with these people, I feel safe™” This program involves training people to use proven communication and body language concepts to diffuse a situation before it escalates by consistent implementation of de-escalation intervention and positive behavior support concepts. One of the main functions of The Mandt System's safety professionals is to ensure trauma-informed training measures are implemented in a way that doesn’t compromise the safety of anyone involved.