Our Program
The Arts
The value of arts education is now firmly grounded in theory and research. The Phoenix school believes the every child has the innate urge and capacity to be artistically expressive. Creative Start allows students to draw upon and deepen their creative abilities. The benefit is that creative thinking, once learned early, lasts for a lifetime and can be applied in other endeavors.
Critical Thinking
One of the principal goals at Phoenix is to develop independent thought in our students. This skill cannot be too highly valued in a society in which students are flooded with information that includes great diversity of opinion and uncertain claims. Developing rational, independent thinking requires attention to the processes, quality and direction of one's thinking and the thinking of others.
Curricular Integration
Interdisciplinary thematic units build curricular connections and relevance in the students' learning experiences. In addition, integrated course projects allow students the opportunity to apply the skills and concepts mastered in class to real world problems.
Global Cultures
Global Cultures at Phoenix is designed to enable students to view themselves and the world through the eyes of others in order to develop and cultivate a sense of empathy in students. As a dimension of education, empathy can transform the way students embrace uncertainty – exploring, adapting to, and eventually anticipating a rapidly changing world.
Mastery Assessment
Mastery learning requires students to demonstrate all essential knowledge and skills of a specific course, as determined by district graded course of study. The underlying assumption is that it is more important to assess how well each student achieves the specific course goals rather than how much each student achieves in relation to the other students in the class. There is no extra credit or honor roll as all students will be expected to perform at mastery level.
Service Learning
Partnership between students, parents, schools, and communities can have a broad array of outcomes, ranging from increased student achievement and improved school climate to enhanced civic capacity for a variety of stakeholders. Parent/Community partnerships enable students at Phoenix to learn academic subjects while connecting to people and places in our community.