OTA students and teachers … describe their school for new & prospective parents.
OTA was awarded a grant in 2014 to film our Learning Acceleration Labs & our “Project Tree” approach to teaching Music, Math, Science, Robotics, Seminar, Humanities, & Outdoor Ed; but since it was the last week of the school year when the videographer arrived and there were not as many activities to film, we asked him to interview students who had arrived recently enough to remember life “before OTA.”
Old Town Academy K-8 School is a free California public charter school located near historic Old Town, San Diego. The school is operated by a non-profit public benefit corporation dedicated to promoting excellence in public education for California students.
Six Elements of our Academic Program:
1. “Project Tree” Project-Based-Learning System: Visual Goal Setting & Progress Tracking, Quality First Assessment (Pass/Try Again grading on all projects: Letter grades come at the end of learning, rather than putting an end to learning). System maximizes Independent Learning, Student Hands-on learning time, and Teacher Coaching Time.
2. Music-Math-Science Focus: Early Learning Programs such as: Music-to-Mathematics (every child learns to play piano and read music, starting in Kindergarten); Math & Science Olympics (every child learns programming, problem solving, and applied mathematics, using programmable robots and apps, starting in Kindergarten)
3. The Core Knowledge® Humanities Curriculum: Equity and Excellence for All Students, “velcro for the mind” (the more facts you know, the easier new knowledge sticks). Seminar Program for all students.
4. Learning Acceleration Labs: Computers dedicated to supporting classroom teachers and accelerate acquisition of core skills & concepts: Mathematics, Vocabulary-Reading, Geography, Science Simulations, Foreign Language, Musical Performance.
5. Outdoor Ed as Character Ed. We take Outdoor Recess and Physical Education seriously. No mis-education on the playground, no Lord of the Flies on the Field. Our teachers guide every minute of the day, from drop-off to pick-up. Team Sports as Character Ed, No Bad Habits, Every Child Learns & Plays Every Position, Masters Every Skill, Gets Game, and Gets in Shape.
Outdoor Ed: “OTA: Throw Like a Girl“
6. MAPS (Measures of Academic Progress) Quality Assurance System: An in-house assessment tool for measuring every student’s academic performance and growth over each academic year (NWEA.org) OTA Teachers are interested in improving performance, not grading it.
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