Math, science focus at Flagstaff Academy

LONGMONT – The Flagstaff Academy in Longmont focuses on science and technology to give students the skills required to be successful in junior high school, high school and their careers.

Its new facility, includes two technology labs and two science labs, where students as young as second grade are given the opportunity to perform their own hands-on scientific experiments.

Flagstaff Academy, home of the Dragons, is a public school for students in kindergarten though eighth grade. As a charter school in the St. Vrain Valley School District, it is operated by a group of parents, educators and community leaders. The school board is comprised of seven parents.

Andrew Moore, principal at Flagstaff Academy, said the curriculum is designed to work with new technology such as texting, instant messaging and online calendars.

“Students can see assignments, tests and due dates using a Google platform,” he said. “Assignments can be downloaded from home to share with parents and then turned in electronically. No more excuses of not knowing what the homework assignment was.”

The school uses a liberal arts curriculum and each year the students are taught using a different lesson. Flagstaff Academy has been in service since 2004 and this summer moved to its new facility at 2040 Miller Drive. It enrolled 675 students for the 2009-10 academic year, the number of students has grown 35 percent each year. The new facility can accommodate 850 students.

The new facility is 72,000 square feet with an outside play area and indoor gymnasium. It has multiple art and music rooms, a library/media room, cafeteria/commons area, stage and four classrooms per grade. Each classroom is equipped with five to seven computers. The seven-acre campus has multiple playground areas as well as new grass and field areas, which will replace existing parking lots.

“A lot of effort was put into the school to be environmentally friendly,” Moore said. “The building property was refurbished instead of starting from scratch. It uses solar energy and motion sensors so the lights will turn off when not in use.”

Flagstaff Academy has 53 teachers who educate by the motto “every child every day.” Classes include math, language arts, science, Spanish, history and science lab. The class size is approximately 27 students. The students are taught using the Core Knowledge Sequence, which provides students with a vocabulary and knowledge necessary for continued learning. This style of teaching ensures all students are given access to the same knowledge base for later educational success. Core Knowledge uses a systematic sequence of grade specific content that can be taught year after year becoming more sophisticated each successive grade.

As a public school, enrollment is based on a lottery. Submissions are taken during open enrollment window from December through January. Flagstaff Academy receives funding from the city of Longmont and the state. The school operates on an annual budget of $4 million and costs approximately $7,000 per student per year. A total of 18 percent of the school’s income goes to facility fees. The startup capital was established in part by the Walton Family Foundation by a grant of $180,000 in 2005.

Mandy Wilson, a third-grade teacher at Flagstaff, has been with the school since it started.

“We have a science lab and hands-on activities to get students excited about math and science,” she said. “I tell parents we are putting into practice skills students are learning in first and second grade and applying it to real life through science and math.”

Flagstaff uses ability grouping in classrooms and by grade level. Students go to different classes depending on their skill and are moved to the appropriate class if necessary.

“One thing I like is we are told what to teach, but not told how we have to teach,” Wilson said. “We do many different types of lessons such as the animal Olympics and have made collages out of magazines by cutting out pictures. It is fun for teachers, and it allows us to be creative. We are not reading out of a manual all-day long.”

Jennifer Bartlett is a parent of two children enrolled at Flagstaff, one in second grade and one in fifth grade.

“I felt the school structure with the ability grouping was more flexible than our local schools,” she said. “I really like that Spanish was being taught at the elementary level along with the science lab.”

Bartlett said Flagstaff Academy is a better fit for her children.

“It is not just learning through science text books,” she said. “My kids get to actually touch rocks, see, feel and test the different types of hardness. Many students do not get this type of teaching until high school. My kids are excited about learning.”

on Facebook on LinkedIn