Q. What will my child be studying?
A. JLSA follows the requirements and guidelines of the North Carolina Division of Non Public Education's NC Standard Course of Study. We offer a college preparatory curriculum, but also utilize mentorship, vocational training and developing marketing ideas for students who have other goals.
Q. What about tests and homework?
A. Tests and homework are tools meant largely to ensure that students are mastering skills in tempo with a class or grade level. Our students progress via their own individual curriculum, which removes the requirement to ensure progress at a specified pace, which is very frequently at a pace faster than the typical of the calendar-based public school system. At JLSA students must demonstrate mastery of skills in a variety of ways before being able to move onto the next skill. In summary, there are no formal tests or homework at Jordan Lakes School of the Arts.
Q. Without tests and grades, what will my child provide to colleges he/she may apply to?
A. Jordan Lake School of the Arts will provide each student a portfolio of work to be evaluated by institutions of higher learning. In addition, most, if not all, of our students in the higher grade level equivalents for the college prepatory program will be completing college level courses for credit before completion of the program at JLSA. The grades from those classes would be submitted during the application process.
Q. What is an average day like?
A. After an hour long nature hike our morning consists of direct and small group instruction in both mathematics and language arts. We then work outside, weather permitting, or spend time in our gigantic tropical greenhouse. Next we participate in a group project based on scientific themes. One example would be an identification guide for birds, which we use technology, research, and then a hands- on art project to create a class resource for birds we may see at school. Lunch is a great time to sit by the lake and eat, then create sand artwork or watch herons fly by.
Our afternoons are a time when artists and our expressive arts therapist work to incorporate educational themes we are studying into theater, music, movement, and art work. While all of this has a natural flow, it requires structure and monumental amounts of pre-planning. Each child’s individual needs are considered and activities have various ability levels built in. Every student has a “Social Skills Curriculum” which for typical children may include public speaking or leading performances, while others may be building group or communication skills.