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The keyword in our approach to learning is "INCLUSIVE" because the Academy is for ALL students, those with average intelligence and those with gifted learning potentials, as well those students who may be challenged by developmental, physical, or cognitive issues. Atlantic Inclusive Academy is a completely different kind of school for students grades 1 - 12. Students make their own decisions about how to use their time, and are free to pursue their own interests within the school's supportive environment. In addition, the school is governed democratically.
Students can learn just about
anything they want to learn. The possibilities
are endless. After setting and meeting their daily
goals, individual students are free to discover
and pursue whatever really interests them. Some
students write novels, produce plays, or study
programming. Others spend their time reading or
creating art. In short, every student's experience
is unique. Yet there are certain things that most
students learn in common:
• Self-knowledge. Students learn about themselves,
for example, what they like to do, and how they
can best organize their time to do it. This learning
requires freedom and time, resources the school
provides in abundance.
• Social and communications
skills. Students develop
these skills by spending countless hours practicing
them. Social skills
are enhanced by the way the school's philosophy
of respect for individuals permeates interpersonal
relationships.
• Entrepreneurial
skills. Every day,
students decide what they want to do and how to
make it happen. Some work to organize their friends
in activities; others look for opportunities to
earn a dime, or five dollars. The entrepreneurial
culture helps students develop the confidence
to pursue their interests and dreams.
• Creativity. Students are constantly creating,
not only works of art, but also field trips, games
designed to include participants with a wide range
of ages, classes, rules for getting along with
each other, and mental models of
how the world works.
We Teach
the Whole Child
At Atlantic Inclusive Academy
(The Academy), we feel that children should benefit
from the storehouse of wisdom that humanity has
gathered throughout the ages concerning the best
way to achieve a happy, fulfilled life. We feel
it is a God-given duty to teach children these
essential life skills, beginning at a young age.
We teach the whole child-mind, body, and spirit.
For over twenty-five years, we have observed that
children who are taught how to have a happy life
are far more likely to achieve academic success
as well. At Atlantic Inclusive Academy, children
learn the art of being balanced, mature, effective,
happy, and harmonious human beings. At Atlantic Inclusive Academy,
we study not only the great things that people
have achieved, but also the human qualities that
enabled them to attain those achievements. And
we recognize the importance of the Fourth R in
education – Relationships.
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The Secrets
of Success
Before we can be happy and
inwardly secure, we must know a great deal about
the world around us. We need to learn how to interact
appropriately with the people and circumstances
in our lives, because life seldom molds itself
to our personal wishes. We must be ready to adjust
to realities that lie outside our own. We must
learn practical skills, and we must master academic
knowledge. Teaching the whole child helps children
prepare for maturity on all levels
emotional, mental, and spiritual.
Success in our school is gauged not only by results,
but also by the quality of each child's attitudes,
effort, and interactions with others. In our
program, the children learn to deal with whatever
life may bring them. We teach our children how
to use the tools to make life choices that will
lead to lasting happiness.
True Teaching
is Individualized
Grown-ups often hide their
differences behind a veneer of social conformity,
but children seldom wear such masks. Thus each
child reveals a broader array of individual traits
than adults generally do. Rather than force the
child to conform to strictly standardized learning
methods, we feel that it makes more sense to discover
the child's essential strengths and encourage
them. We strive to discover each child’s
learning style. Children develop self-confidence
and enthusiasm for learning when their individual
strengths and learning styles are continually
and consistently encouraged.
Classes are kept small so that Teachers can work
closely with each child. The Teachers are trained
to assess the child's physical, cognitive, spiritual,
and emotional development, and to guide the child
accordingly. They relate to the children much
as their parents do, from the perspective of the
child's ever-changing needs. We respect and encourage
individuality.
Joy in
the Classroom
We feel that we have been
given a responsibility as adults to help make
the early years a joyful experience for children,
while laying a foundation for a happy adulthood.
In The Academy’s classrooms, the atmosphere
is happy, relaxed, and family-like, while at the
same time there is order, appropriate discipline
and structure, and a clear sense that the Teacher
is in charge. Atlantic Inclusive Academy Teachers
win the children's respect by skillfully awakening
their enthusiasm and energy for the tasks at hand.
The children learn that they are expected to behave
with consideration and respect, and that they
can approach the Teacher for appropriate individual
guidance.
Creating a positive learning environment doesn't automatically transform children into angels. At Atlantic Inclusive Academy, you'll find the same issues, interactions, and challenging transitions that you would expect to see in any classroom. What's different is that the children learn effective, enlightened ways to deal with these situations as they arise.
The Inner
Life
At Atlantic Inclusive Academy,
children's natural spirituality is acknowledged
and encouraged. The classroom may also be decorated
with objects that the children consider personally
sacred and spiritually meaningful.
At Atlantic Inclusive Academy, spirituality isn't defined as a particular dogma or religious creed. Thus, it isn't "religious instruction" in the traditional sense; rather, the focus is on the child's own, direct experience of universal spiritual truths. The key is self-realization-the individual perception of the unifying reality behind all spiritual paths.
Every morning and occasionally throughout the day, we set aside time for singing, quiet meditation, affirmations, prayer, or other uplifting activities. Through these forms of worship, the children experience for themselves what it feels like to be in harmony with a higher level of consciousness.
When it's appropriate, discussions
are held and questions are answered concerning
spiritual truths. The children discover that expansive
feelings, thoughts, and actions increase their
sense of well-being, whereas the opposite choices
take that happiness away. "Right and wrong"
thus become first-hand experiences of the consequences
of personal behaviors, rather than a fixed set
of abstract rules. The children become deeply
interested in changing their behavior when they
realize that doing so is an effective way to increase
their inner sense of joy. At Atlantic Inclusive
Academy, children talk about God, angels, saints,
and the spiritual side of life as readily and
naturally as other children talk about sports
or TV.
There was a young man
walking down a deserted beach
just before dawn.
In the distance he saw a frail old man.
As he approached the old man,
he saw him picking up starfish from the beach.
The young man watched the old man gently toss them
back into the sea, one by one.
The young man gazed in wonder at this site until he finally
asked the old man, "Why do you spend so much time and energy
doing that? The waves will just wash them back up onto the beach again.”
The old man explained that starfish will die
if left on the sand in the morning sun.
"But there must be thousands of beaches and millions of starfish!"
the young man exclaimed.
"How can you make any difference this way?"
The old man looked at the tiny starfish in his hand
and as he tossed it lovingly back
into the safety of the sea,
he turned to the young man and said softly,
"It made a difference to that one."
Adapted from ”The Star Thrower" (1978)
by Loren C. Eiseley
Atlantic Inclusive Academy
Educating God’s Children, One Child at a Time
Teaching All Learning Styles, Serving All Children 1-12
A Private, Not-for-Profit, 501(c)(3) School