Grades aren't Growth
Grades are for coaching, not judging. We use a standards-based grading system— no numbers, no averages—to ensure that feedback drives students to learn more, and stress less.
Academic Achievement and Habits of Mind
Academic Achievement grades and Habits of Mind grades target separate, but related, elements of the students’ classroom learning experience.
Academic Achievement grades are assessments of what the student knows and what the student can do: Content Knowledge, Unit-Driven Understanding, Oral and Written Communication Skills, Critical Thinking and Flexibility, and Creative Engagement and Problem Solving.
Habits of Mind grades are assessments of traits that the student develops and brings to classroom learning – including effort, attitude, preparation, attendance, time management and organization, persistence: Intellectual Curiosity, Openness and Engagement, Time and Resource Management, Persistence, Resilience and Patience, Risk-Taking and Self-Advocacy, and Dependability and Punctuality.
In more traditional grading systems, these two areas are not separated. In our grading system with the inclusion of essential skills and areas of self-discovery, it is clear how much a student has learned.
Collaborative coaching. No stress. Not cutthroat or competitive.
Our teachers, coaches, and residential staff commit themselves to providing honest, timely, and thorough feedback on student work. Honoring student work with our time, attention, and expertise builds strong student-teacher relationships, and that’s what we’re all about.