8th Grade Innovation Academy
Like our 6th and 7th grade academies, our 8th grade Innovation Academy doubles-down on developing Christlike character in our students. In this foundational year, we strive to equip our students to lead and serve with boldness as they discover how to innovate solutions to often complex and pressing problems. We believe that our Innovation Academy students will forge character and resilience that will equip them to make wise decisions in high school and beyond. Our Innovation Academy field trips will focus on community and business leaders with an entrepreneurial spirit who have innovated to successfully solve significant challenges in our community. The capstone project in 8th grade features a presentation that highlights what each student has learned about leading, serving, and innovating to solve a problem of their choosing in order to make the world a better place.
Sample Field Trip
Students visit James Storehouse in Newbury Park, CA and learn how James Storehouse provides practical support to families in the foster care system. Students then spend time the next day processing the lessons they've learned in their service journals and discussing lessons to be applied to their own lives in class.
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Curriculum
Our gifted teachers consistently stretch our students to grow in their writing, critical thinking, reading, and oration skills. Comparative novel studies are utilized along with the best components of several leading curricula, including Shirley and Fountas and Pinnell. Cross curricular lessons are emphasized across the humanities, with a specific focus on character formation through highly interactive and challenging academics. Treasured traditions like the school-wide spelling bee and speech meet help to ensure that our Academy students set an example of academic excellence for our younger students and provide leadership and mentoring opportunities for students in our upper grades.
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Our eigth graders build upon their 6th and 7th grade accomplishments in becoming resilient readers who read for school as well as pleasure. ELA instruction incorporates classic and contemporary literature and non-fiction, informative works to teach techniques and strategies for more advanced reading comprehension and analysis. 8th-grade writing moves beyond organizing ideas and reasoning into lessons that reinforce the importance of critical thinking and wise discernment. Editing and proofreading and using and citing reference sources are emphasized.