Year: 2012

In our recent advertisements and our YouTube site, among other places, you will see us described as an “alternative” school.

Alternative to what?

We think about this question a lot. For many reasons, we embrace the notion of being alternative. First, we are alternative to what was the status quo for the students who come to The Academy. In that way, our alternative is small, intimate classes; teachers who are experts in dealing with students with learning style differences and learning disabilities; administrators who are on the leading edge of research and thought in this area of education.

We are also alternative in our ability as a school to invert the history of a students experience at and with schools. Where schools were previously places of failure, The Academy is a place for success. We spend the entire year spreading the word about our school. We actively prospect for the students and families who would most benefit from being part of The Academy community and an education at our school. We take these students on the way into our school and throughout their time here, empower them to succeed on the way out. This is transformative and deeply alternative for the families who come to our school.

FInally, alternative is an attitude. From the minute the school day begins, the expectation is engagement and success. Students take from an education at The Academy what they put in. We create an environment here that makes it safe, comfortable, rewarding for students to check in. It takes time to change the paradigm from school being a passive thing that probably should be avoided, to school being an integral part of who you are, in a community that not only cares about you, but is equipped to help you succeed.

The Academy IS Toronto’s alternative school. It’s a beautiful time of year in the city – come join us for a tour and a cup of good coffee.

Don Adams, Head of School

So much of what we read in the media today about schools revolves around the bare minimum. Labour battles, unions, governments – it all creates a real mess for our students, all of whom deserve to transcend the minimum each day.

Minimums are something that we quickly get used to. Some think (though I disagree) that most students spend a fair amount of their team figuring out where the level of minimum effort is. They say the same about teachers. At our school, we never see this. We see engagement, each and every day. We see teachers who arrive early and stay late, not out of obligation, but out of a commitment to deliver the maximum that they can for their students, for themselves.

Everything has a starting point, so I wonder where the disconnect began and I know that parents wonder this as well. Every week I hear stories from our parents about low levels of engagement at their child’s previous school. To parents of children with learning disabilities and learning style differences, the disconnect often begins and ends at the intersection of understanding and commitment. It’s remarkably difficult to be committed to something you don’t understand. If a teacher doesn’t understand a student and a student in turn feels lost in a system that doesn’t work for or with him or her, we have a void.

There are no schools that are a perfect fit for every student. We need to divest ourselves of the notion that there are, just as we need to get beyond the idea that the measure of a given day or week or academic year should be the least that we can do for each other. We all need to aim as high as we can, every single day. That’s the bare minimum we owe our students.

Don Adams, Head of School