All Lighthouse Academies work to education scholars based on a foundational belief that strong literacy skills are the key to academic success, and that strong learning and comprehension starts with literacy.
We help students develop strong literacy skills through a curriculum that is based on research proven to improve academic performance. Our students learn to comprehend, analyze, and critically respond to what they read and hear, applying the conventions of English to a variety of communication tasks.
Signature Practices include:
Our vision includes proper execution of professional development, coaching, and support for our teachers, as well as use of research-based assessment tools for course correction as needed. This shared vision provides the road map and calibration tools to ensure staff have the resources and mindset they need to deliver top-notch literacy instruction.
We recognize the importance of setting the right conditions for success in our literacy environment. In primary grades, as students learn how to understand and articulate their thoughts, feelings, and ideas, speaking and listening are core components.
Through our assessments we use data to match each child to their “just-right” level of learning, tailoring our instruction to each scholar’s individual needs rather than an arbitrary grade level.
Our classroom environments immerse students in an atmosphere that entices them to explore the elements of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. To enable scholars to continue their literacy exploration outside the classroom we partner with parents to help them replicate elements of our classroom at home.
We promise to prioritize an intentional literacy block starting in kindergarten so that by third grade scholars can make the transition to reading to learn. The literacy block will consist of 180-210 minutes of daily focus on phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, language comprehension development (read aloud/shared reading, oral language, and vocabulary), data-based small-group instruction, and writing.
Knowing that both formal and informal assessments provide us with critical information about our scholars, we consciously adopt a data-driven instructional mindset. We use this information to identify and respond to the needs of our students. In primary grades we use research-based assessments to monitor individual scholar growth and grade-level proficiency. We use data to set goals with scholars and make weekly lesson plans for whole- and small-group instruction.
Primary-grade teachers must understand how to explicitly teach children to read. Knowing the science of literacy is essential in order to effectively coach, support, and develop scholars’ literacy skills, as is the ability to read and use data to intentionally create plans that meet students’ needs. Our professional development calendars allocate sacred time and space to prioritize teachers’ literacy development. We have made a promise to our families that their children’s teachers understand what they need as readers and also know how to create learning experiences that foster their learning.
The years leading up to college are critical for our scholars. The educators at our CPA are specially equipped at teaching the critical academic skills required to ensure your scholar is college ready-academically and emotionally.
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We encourage our scholars to round out their education by participating in extracurricular activities and to take advantage of educational enrichment opportunities.
