The Nathan Hale Academies are the result of a multi-year, all-staff educational reform process. They are a key part of a long-term goal to create a school that meets the needs of all of its students more fully than the traditional model.
The 290 9th graders enrolled at Nathan Hale have been split into three academies, each staffed by four teachers, for a student-teacher ratio of approximately 25-1. Although some of our teaching will be done across the curriculum, each of the four teachers in an academy is a specialist in one or more of the following: science, health, language arts, or social studies. Students will receive academic credit in these four subject areas.
The academies operate on the inclusion principal: all students attend the same classes and meet high standards of behavior and academic achievement. Students are offered the opportunity of pursuing the honors designation for Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and/or Math. This is accomplished by meeting criteria specific to each course. Students who have IEPs have accommodations overseen and implemented by their IEP teacher.
For the fall semester, each academy has been further divided into a health/science block and a humanities block. Students will do course work in a single block 1st quarter, and then work in the other block 2nd quarter. Throughout the entire semester, both blocks will focus heavily on reading and writing.
The academies meet during the first three hours of the day. We have developed a schedule that consists of two academic blocks each day, ranging from 65 to 90 minutes. Mondays begin with a 20-minute 'all-academy' meeting used for announcements, team-building activities, and orientation to Nathan Hale High School.
The academy philosophy is the same as that which drives the school: to create an environment where all students achieve success. Key elements include:personalization of learning, specifically, smaller student-teacher ratio and number of students seen by individual teachers, and focused use of mentorship time clear, consistent expectations and policies across the academies clear communication between school and home
Welcome Expectations Responsible Scholarship Supplies Log Book Extra-Credit/Honors PTSA Meeting Notes Homework TipsGrading Rubric Academic Support ChecklistStudent InformationParent InformationAcademy E-mailsHumanities Reading Lists