A Day in the Life

Students work on journals during math class.

A day at Altura Prep is filled with exciting lessons, projects, small group activities, and opportunities to set and achieve goals.

SCHOOL DAY:

Altura Prep’s school day begins at 8:00 am every day, and ends at 3:15pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Dismissal is at 12:30pm on Fridays for teacher development time.

CLASSES:

Students are in a class of 22 students, named after a college or university. Each student has multiple teachers, each one specializes in reading, math, and STEAM.

Read on to learn about a day in the life of an Altura Prep scholar.

ARRIVAL

Morning Drop-Off begins at 7:30 am. Breakfast is offered in the cafeteria, and students may go to their classes for Morning Work. Every student is greeted as they enter the building, and every one practices greetings, eye contact, and hand shakes each day.

MORNING MINDFULNESS

Students begin their day in their homeroom class. As a school, we practice mindfulness to prepare ourselves for the day.

Students sit and practice mindfulness to start their day.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

In English Language Arts (ELA), students practice reading and writing in whole group and small groups. Students read “good fit books” with partners and individually, and work with their teacher to improve their understanding of interesting, relevant, and challenging texts. Students write each day about what they read, and will learn narrative, opinion, and informational writing over the course of each year. Students will also use a combination of online tools and in person activities to practice and improve their reading.

STEAM/SOCIAL STUDIES

Altura Prep students have either STEAM or Social Studies every day of the week. Their teacher prepares units that help students apply what they learn in both ELA and Math, and connects learning across all subjects. Students may build a solution to a problem they see in their community in STEAM, and then learn about what other historical figures have done in similar situations in Social Studies.

LUNCH AND RECESS

Lunch at Altura Prep is filling and fun. Students eat with their classmates, and sometimes, their teachers. We partner with a local organization to provide healthy and delicious meals. All students have recess each day, and students are able to play and move to energize their bodies and minds.

ENRICHMENT

All students have PE, Chess, LEGO Engineering, Dance, Music, Coding, Keyboarding, or Art every day. We encourage our Enrichment teachers to channel their passions and to help our students learn to find and channel theirs. Enrichment is not an afterthought, it is an important part of a well-rounded school day.

REACH

All students learn about, demonstrate, and celebrate the Altura Prep REACH core values: Responsibility, Empathy, Agency, Curiosity, and Humor/Hard Work. Students see these values as they walk the halls of the building, and learn what it means to grow each of these important non-academic skills, habits, and mindsets.

MATHEMATICS

We believe that it is not only important for students to learn how to do math, but also to think mathematically. In math class, students learn how to do math, and more importantly, they learn what they are doing and why. Students participate in “problem-based instruction” as a group, and then work independently or in small groups to practice skills they most need to develop. The teacher coaches and supports students to understand what they are doing, so that students can then apply it in other fields and in the future.

CLOSE-OUT

At the end of a full day, students return to their homeroom with their homeroom

teacher. Just as they began the day talking about goals, students reflect on the goals they have set for themselves and brainstorm opportunities for new goals for the next day. Students and teachers give “shout-outs” to celebrate great things that happened during the day and celebrate one another for another great day at Altura Prep.

INQUIRY LEARNING

We believe all students deserve a personalized learning environment. At Altura Prep, we develop individual students’ passions by giving everyone an opportunity to work on something that they are passionate about on a regular basis. Students learn how to plan, execute, and present their projects on their own. As a school, we know how important it is that each child find their passion and grows it.

FRIDAY MORNING CIRCLE

Every Friday morning, we take time as a school to celebrate the week together. We sing a song of the month and we celebrate our students who have demonstrated the month's value, shown academic growth, or who have otherwise gone above and beyond as a Prepster.