Academic Advising (Personal counselor)

Our academic advisors through unlimited one-to-one counseling meetings ensure that students receive consistent and accurate information on the following:

 

• Research selection for projects and papers
• Competition selection for awards and honors
• Resume building
• Academic honors and project selection
• College summer program
• Summer internship selection
• SAT 1, ACT, AP planning
• Work and Internship planning and selection
• College selection
• College major selection and career planning
• 4.0 GPA planning
• School grade monitoring
• Academic subject selection
• Award and Scholarship selection
• Leadership opportunities
• School club selection
• Extracurricular activity selection
• Work opportunities
• Internship opportunities
• Daily schedule management
• Roadmap to successful college prep
• College application tracking

Tutoring Services

One-on-one personalized tutoring services are offered to all students on the following areas:

• Research
• Lab experiments
• Research essential concepts
• Research paper writing
• Competition essential concepts
• Competition preparation
• SAT I Preparation
• ACT Preparation
• AP Exams and AP courses
• Summer preparation for next year courses
• Academic subjects
• College admission applications and essays
• College scholarship application and essay writing
• Music / Art portfolio essay writing
• Two-minute self-introductory video
• Resume writing
• Summer program applications and essay writing

Writing Assistance

A writing specialist provides assistance to improving reading and writing skills for academic and writing competition success. The writing specialist help students develop writing techniques and coach tips on the writing process to help clarify questions, comments, and writing related concerns.

Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)

• The course syllabus that outlines expectations and guidance.
• Administrative information about the course: prerequisites and contact information for the instructor.
• A notice board for current information about the ongoing course
• Includes copies of lecture in the form of text, audio, or video presentations, and the supporting visual presentations.
• Additional resources, either integrated or as links to outside resources.
• Self-assessment quizzes
• Formal assessment functions: examinations, essay submission, or presentation of projects.
• Support for communications: e-mail and threaded discussions.
• Links to outside sources
• Management of access rights for instructors, their assistants, course support staff, parents, and students.
• Documentation and statistics as required for institutional administration and quality control
• Authoring tools for creating the necessary documents by the instructor and students.
• Interactive online whiteboard for live virtual classes.

Our VLE is capable of supporting multiple courses over the full range of the academic program, giving a consistent interface between the parents, teachers, students, and administrative staff.

Multi-Tiered System of Supports

Our personalized Multi-Tiered System of Supports is effective in meeting the needs of every student. The teachers and support staff have been able to collaborate to analyze student data and make action plans. Students in need of additional academic support are identified, and interventions are planned and monitored. In addition, we have been able to develop opportunities for students exceeding benchmarks or in need of a challenge. The following processes have been used.

 

• Using Data to Personalize Instruction: The core teachers, administrators, and counselors make all decisions about tiered instruction, with parents consulted on all decisions.
• Determining Tiers: For academic instruction, we use three tier categories, with each tier building upon what’s happening in the tier before it: Tier one: core instructions, Tier Two: supplemental instructions, and Tier-three: challenging subjects
• Collecting Data: We collect a variety of data that helps to determine how students are doing, and what specific supports they need: progress monitoring, diagnostic measures, competition results, school GPA, and standardized test scores on SAT, AP, and ACT. Our aim has been to ensure that statistical information is valid and reliable to help faculty know how students are doing in preparation for college admissions.
• Questions Used to Monitor Progress: What percentage of students are getting their needs met through core (Tier One) instruction? Which students need supplemental instruction in a Tier Two configuration? How is the supplemental instruction defined? What about students already in Tier Two—how are they progressing? Are there students in Tier Two who may need Tier Three supports? How are students already in Tier Three doing? We also take into consideration the fact that there can be multiple Tier Two defined supports—some students may need to work on a certain set of skills, while other students have different needs. Students’ progress is monitored on a regular basis.
• Using Individual Strengths through Teacher Collaboration: Teachers are organized around tiered instruction in a variety of different ways depending on teacher strengths and student needs. For example, for a research project and lab, once a teacher teaches the basic concepts (Tier one), another teacher will begin the supplemental instruction (Tier two), and then, a teacher with most experience will begin the research project and the pertaining lab experiments.