Academics

Achieve Academics

We are committed to to provide a rigorous, Minnesota Standards-Based, data-driven, best practices educational program for students in grades preK through 8th grade. Achieve, a public charter school, educates the whole child in a safe environment that values diversity and promotes world cultures with a focus on Hmong and Spanish languages.

Curriculum & Student Evaluation

Achieve Language Academy staff work hard to develop an educational program that will challenge your child academically and will also prepare him/her for the social and emotional challenges he/she may encounter after leaving our school. It is our goal to meet each child where he/she is at in the learning process and move them forward in the process.  

1. It is our goal that every child at Achieve Language Academy makes a minimum of one year’s academic growth in each of the curricular areas.
2. At each grade level our teachers will incorporate the Minnesota State Standards into the appropriate curriculum area.
3. All of our students participate in learning a second language. The language choices are Spanish and Hmong.  
4. All of our students receive instruction and practice in music, physical education, library skills and technology. 
5. Seventh and eighth grade students participate in the Achieve-created STARS Program. There they focus on oral, writing and study skills in addition to focused work in their curricular areas.
6. To assure growth all students in grades 1-8 will take the NWEA Measurement Assessment Progress test in the fall, winter and spring of each year. Our students will also take the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment in April and May. read about testing
7. Achieve Language Academy has an innovative and innovative English Language Learner (EL) program that is available to all qualifying students. Students are assessed using the WIDA ACCESS test once per year.
8. Our core values of Work, Respect, Belong guide us in educating the needs of the whole child. Our teachers have been trained in the Developmental Design and Responsive Classroom Strategies. All staff have received training in Restorative Practices.

Achieve Literacy Framework

Achieve continues to use a balanced literacy framework. Within this framework, we use the Reading and Writing Workshop Model. Students in grades K-5 use the Fountas and Pinnell Classroom; students in grades 6-8 are using My Perspective.

Fountas and Pinnell uses five main contexts of learning, which are shared reading, guided reading, interactive read-alouds and phonics/word work. We are excited to have beautiful new nonfiction and fiction books in many genres. There is a strong focus on reading and writing in collaboration.

Achieve uses a three tier framework for literacy intervention. Students in K-4 may receive small group reading instruction at tier II of RTI. Students who are below grade level by six months in K-1, and one year or more in grades 3-4, are able to receive an additional reading lesson per day. This does not take the place of their classroom reading lesson. Achieve also qualified for a Reading Corps grant providing additional one-on-one instruction for students who are slightly below grade level. The goal of Reading Corps is to reach students who will catch up quickly, allowing them to work at grade level.  

Homework

Homework is any extra learning assigned by a teacher and is an extension of school learning time. Homework encourages students to be responsible for some preparation and practice and helps foster independent learning. It can provide an opportunity for parents to be involved and informed first hand about what is being learned in the classroom. We ask that you support and encourage your child to complete homework on a daily basis.

read more about classrooms

Post-Secondary Education Options

Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) is a program that allows 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade students to earn both high school and college credit while still in high school, through enrollment in and successful completion of college nonsectarian courses at eligible participating postsecondary institutions. Most PSEO courses are offered on the campus of the postsecondary institution; some courses are offered online. Each participating college or university sets its own admissions requirements for enrollment into the PSEO courses. Eleventh and 12th-grade students may take PSEO courses on a full- or part-time basis; 10th graders are eligible to enroll in PSEO on a more limited basis (see note below). Students must meet the PSEO residency and eligibility requirements and abide by participation limits specified in Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.09. If a school district determines a pupil is not on track to graduate, she/he may continue to participate in PSEO on a term by term basis.

By March 1 of each year, or three weeks prior to the date a student registers for courses for the following school year (whichever is earlier), schools must provide PSEO information to all students in grades 8-11 and their families. To assist the district in planning, a student must inform the district by May 30 of each year of their intent to enroll in postsecondary courses during the following school year.

There is no charge to PSEO students for tuition, books or fees for items that are required to participate in a course; however, students may incur fees for equipment that becomes their property when the course or program is completed, textbooks that are not returned to the postsecondary institution according to their policies, or for tuition costs if they do not notify the district by May 30 and the district does not waive this date requirement.

Funds are available to help pay transportation expenses for qualifying students to participate in PSEO courses on college campuses. For more information on these funds, access the PSEO Mileage Reimbursement Program Instructions.

Enrolling in a PSEO course does not prohibit a student from participating in activities sponsored by the high school.

School districts must allow a PSEO student reasonable access to the high school building, computers and/or other technology resources during regular school hours to participate in PSEO courses, whether on-line or on campus.

Each year, districts must publish their grade-weighting policy on their website, including a list of courses for which students can earn weighted grades.

All courses taken through the PSEO program must meet graduation requirements. Districts must transcript credits earned in PSEO by a ratio prescribed in statute. Districts have the authority to decide which subject area and standards the PSEO course meets. If there is a dispute between the district and the student regarding the number of credits granted for a particular course, the student may appeal the board's decision to the commissioner. The commissioner's decision regarding the number of credits will be final.

Postsecondary institutions are required to allow PSEO students to enroll in online courses consistent with the institution’s policy regarding postsecondary student enrollment in online courses.

Tenth-grade students may initially enroll in one Career and Technical Education (CTE) PSEO course if they receive a reading proficiency score of “meets” or “exceeds” on the 8th grade MCA. If 10th graders taking a CTE PSEO course earn at least a grade C in that class, they may take additional postsecondary courses. If the student did not take the MCA in 8th-grade, another reading assessment accepted by the enrolling postsecondary institution can be substituted. For students with disabilities, there is an alternative option to demonstrate reading proficiency.

For current information about the PSEO program, visit the Minnesota Department of Education’s Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) webpage.