Individualized learning plans are designed to meet students where they are at according to progress they are making toward reaching learning standards. Students who need more support or time to master a skill or concept are given that support and time. Students who have demonstrated mastery and are ready to move on are given what they need to do so successfully.  Students' progress in one content area does not dictate placement or leveling in another content area- again students are given just what they need according to where they are.  Additionally, we integrate student voice, helping us better understand interests, passion, and aptitudes. 

Why does it matter?

Meeting students in this way helps them see and feel that they are equally valued, honored, prepared, and supported. This positively impacts student engagement, mental health, and academic achievement. All are important ingredients for happiness and success and for healthy, productive, and thriving communities.  

What does this look like?

We develop a profile for each of our unique learners, which encompasses their learning needs, interests, passions, talents, curiosities, and voice. This profile grows and changes shape as our student do. We continuously progress monitor and use a variety of ongoing assessments, including those in the form of authentic applications, adjusting instructional practices and learning programming as necessary. Every student graduates with the requisites they need to be successful in their pursuits.

We also seek students' voice and choice throughout their school experience. It is foundational to what we do and is a commitment we proudly adhere to as we state in our vision and mission. Through this best practice, students more readily take responsibility for their own learning, are more deeply motivated and engaged, thereby making learning happen naturally and with greater ease.  Students' voice and choice in their path of studies, helps eliminate unnecessary content and delve more deeply into what matters to the pathway they are aiming to follow.

Beginning at the elementary level, programming includes career, college, and service exploration to help students align their passions and interests with potential careers and post-secondary options. At the secondary level, students participate in experiences aimed at better equipping them for their goals and life after graduation. Our connections and partnerships with colleges, trade schools, organizations, and businesses open opportunities for mentoring, work experiences, internships or apprenticeships, early college coursework, and community service, further individualizing their learning plan.

Our belief in a growth mindset transcends traditional academic pacing. At Hilltop Academy our "leveling" is in alignment with an “until” and “not yet” approach, allowing for acceleration or deceleration in content areas- based on readiness or need in that particular content area rather than by age. As a result, the school operates within “grade spans” allowing fluid movement where student mastery of content, knowledge, and skills, drives students' individualized learning plans. Students are not held back when they have already demonstrated content and skill mastery, nor are they left behind when they have not yet mastered a concept or skill.  

Why does it matter? 

Grades are often seen or used as rewards instead of a means for understanding each learner's unique needs and progress toward their individual learning goals. Our approach is intentionally designed to eliminate inferiority or superiority, which impacts self-confidence and self-worth. Our aim is to build-up our learners! 

What does it look like at Hilltop Academy?