Liberating Minds, Inspiring Wisdom: A Christian Arts-Based School for Students with Learning Differences
Our last field trip of the year was to Dr. Gail’s (our school psychologist) farm in rural New Jersey. From identifying varieties of fruit trees to steering clear of poison ivy, feeding the chickens to cautiously approaching the sheep, playing soccer to making homemade pizza, the day was a sample of farm life that most students had never seen.
Sophia Academy’s school year is hurtling to a close. As we continue to delve into history and science, math and literature, we also take time to learn outside the classroom. This spring, our field trips included an art-based trip to the Schuylkill River and its hiking trails, a science trip to Eastern University’s planetarium and observatory, and a hands-on trip to a New Jersey egg farm where we helped care for animals and made home-made pizza.
Mr. Tucker, guitar teacher extraordinaire, has introduced music technology and production to Sophia Academy students. He brings in the Macbooks with Garage Band and is teaching students the step by step process of creating and mixing music. Check out his video below:
https://www.facebook.com/richard.tucker.980/videos/1202532390278773
What is “authentic, hands-on” education? Education that prepares students with skills they can use in the adult world of 2022 and beyond. As part of Sophia Academy’s mission to awaken genius in students with language-based learning differences, we are always seeking to find ways to give our students practice with the same skills they might use as an adult.
We were fortunate to receive an award for the school as part of the Excellence in Teaching Award given to Mr. Brockman. With that award, we purchased curricula and equipment to enable students to learn design and development skills as they use tinkerCAD. Our new 3D printer has students quite excited!
Our very own Mr. Brockman was selected for an “Excellence in Teaching” award this month. He and the school will both receive cash to use for educational needs. Sophia plans to purchase Design curriculum and a 3D printer to increase our ability to develop real-world skills.
Mr. Brockman will be recognized at a special award ceremony by Franklin Mint FCU in April. We celebrate with him and are honored to have him on our stellar faculty.
J-Term 2022 at Sophia Academy focused on writing, producing, and acting in plays and videos. After studying myths and legends of the world, one class turned a classroom into a car repair and body shop as they brought the legend of John Henry to life. The other class started from scratch, writing their own script, then creating the props, costumes, and set, and finally producing a play for invited guests. Real-world skills learned ranged from sewing to video-editing.
Standing up for the little guy
When we say that Sophia Academy’s science classes are lab-driven, we mean a number of things: we mean that we choose curriculum that prioritizes discovery and experimentation over reading textbooks and memorizing facts. We mean that our teachers seek constantly to engage students with real-world problems and projects. We mean that students are encouraged to build models in order to “see” how the world works. Whether learning biology or chemistry, Sophia students actively engage with the wonders of the created world.
As a school which values time outside the classroom as much as time sitting in seats, Sophia Academy takes advantage of the fact that our World-Class city of Philadelphia is full of historical sites, science museums, cultural oddities, and musical performances.
Whether watching Hamilton! with hundreds of high schoolers from across the city or viewing Egyptian mummies with a small class of four, Sophia students enhance their learning with real-world opportunities. We believe that we learn the past best by stepping into the past as archeologists, or medieval monks, or ancient Greek poets. We learn science best by becoming scientists exploring questions that confuses us. We learn math best by using it to design scale models of actual venues.
A favorite field trip is always our visit to the Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians. There, students view the odd and the macabre. It is a great introduction to their study of Edgar Allen Poe’s writing, a unit they complete with a visit to the house where Poe penned “The Raven.”
Helping each other through a challenge course, cooking together, even making videos of each other on the zip line are just some of the ways Sophia Academy began to build our sense of family at our all-school retreat at Camp Andrews. This first ever annual retreat was the perfect start to a year in which we are focusing on “Compassion.”
If there was one subject or one activity that acted like a magic pill, bringing cognitive, social, health, and educational growth and benefits, wouldn’t you want that?
Of course you would– and so does Sophia Academy. Decades-long research shows that MUSIC is that magic activity. Here are just some of the benefits (from NAMM newsletter article “Benefits of Learning and Playing Music”):
At Sophia Academy, all students learn music theory and take guitar lessons. They had a great deal of fun at the end of the year producing their own music through a music tech program on mac computers. We thank Mr. Tucker for his faithful service to the students at Sophia.
