Today I need to take my oldest in for more placement testing at Nampa Classical Academy. He has always been at the top of his class and in the gifted programs. So this testing is because he tested high on the original placement tests and they want to be sure to put him in the proper classes. One of the reasons we chose to put our son in the academy is to challenge him and give him more opportunity for growth and learning. In our school district, middle school just seems to be a holding place for the gifted kids. They can let them move a little ahead, but not too much. And the district recently cut spending on gifted programs, so now the elementary program my son was in two years ago does not exist. With the continued cutting of programs that benefit academically gifted children, there is frustration out there among parents that their children are being left behind. I have chosen to take my son out of his middle school and place him into the charter school to give him a better chance. Gifted kids drop out of school at a startling rate because they get bored. They actually learn less when taught at a slower pace. I don't want my son's potential for greatness to be thwarted by an educatioinal system that caters to making sure everyone meets minimum standards. I want more. So in steps Nampa Classical Academy...
Nampa Classical Academy is one of Idaho's new charter schools this year. The academy is based on the classical education model. This model stresses not only skills, but content. Teachers are not bound by a strict curriculum such as Open Court Reading and other programs that appeared after the NCLB Act. This will allow teachers to pull material from the great authors, inventors, philosophers, historical figures, etc. of the past. Basically, the great minds of the past will be used to teach and create great minds of the future. Students will be taught to think critically, not to just regurgitate information in order to get a passing grade. The academy has high academic and moral expectations of students and will expect teachers to model those expectations. Students will also be expected to model and mentor younger students. It's an exciting time for my familiy as we have been looking for such an alternative for our children, but have never had the money to even consider private school. Although the uniform requirement places a burden on our family, it is worth the extra scrimping and saving. To learn more about the academy, feel free to visit their websit at www.ncacharter.org.
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