WAYFINDER CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
OUR PROGRAM
LEARNING PROFILE PERSONALIZATION
While Wayfinder Christian Academy adheres to all accreditation and A-G course requirements for student degree coursework, we also allow for a wide range of customization. Each student has an Individual Learning Profile created for them. Though the initial template is similar for all first-year students, mentors and staff work with students throughout their time at Wayfinder Christian Academy to personalize their Learning Profile. This allows students to take ownership of their own learning—a core skill they will need for college and life.
ACADEMIC RIGOR AND ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Wayfinder Christian Academy works with local universities and online services to provide dual credit enrollment coursework as early as 10th grade. We also offer honors classes to any student who wants the opportunity. Because students work closely with mentors regularly, these opportunities are not just for a certain demographic of students. We want students to take risks and do hard things, and we’ll be there every step of the way to help them achieve their goals.
A strong focus is placed on student progress, mastery, and personal goal setting. Assessment is done through standards- and mastery-based grading, tracking of student growth, and individual goal setting. Standard GPAs and standardized tests are also given to align with college admission requirements.
LEARNING EXPERIENCES
We believe that students at Wayfinder should be prepared to be leaders of their own learning path, and our teachers help them become confident in that role. Students will be intentionally encouraged and taught to take ownership of their own learning throughout their time at Wayfinder.
In order to maintain a program filled with academic rigor and experiential learning, Wayfinder utilizes the Golden Ratio (1:1.6) for a balance between content knowledge and learning in context. As a result, students will have direct, teacher-led instruction for no more than 38% of instructional time. The rest of the time will be dedicated to student work, experiential learning, group time, reflection, revision and project development. In practice, that means, if you walk into a classroom, you’ll never see teachers talking for more than 17 minutes during a 45-minute class (or 34 minutes for a 90-minute block).
INTERSESSIONS
Find Your Way Program
Because Wayfinder believes that time for stretching of skills and potential failure is as important as assessment and success, we have created a program designed for that purpose. One week is set aside each quarter for students to work with their mentor to develop personalized activities or tasks that help them reach their goals.
TRY NEW THINGS
Students are encouraged to do things that they’ve never attempted before.
EXPLORE YOUR PASSION
Students take specialized time to direct their own learning and do a deep dive into subjects that they are passionate about.
MEET THEIR NEEDS
Students find real needs in the community and develop sustainable programs that help to meet those needs. These programs are often sustained for months or even years after.
DO HARD THINGS
Students are encouraged to try tasks that may seem impossible and see what can happen when planning and heart are combined to achieve amazing results.
Leadership | Innovation | Faith | Entrepreneurship
Skills for L.I.F.E. (leadership, innovation, faith, and entrepreneurship) are incorporated at every level of the Wayfinder Experience, often as a natural result of our educational program that is taught in real-world situations. Skills for L.I.F.E. are also taught explicitly in our weekly workshops. The weekly workshops will include topics such as public speaking, business startups, Christian entrepreneurship, emotional intelligence, developing a meaningful devotional life and many more. Each class is also evaluated yearly to ensure that students are given adequate opportunities to develop and explore these L.I.F.E. skills so that they become a core skill that all students at Wayfinder Christian Academy have when they graduate.
14 Foundational L.I.F.E. Skills
Building Connections
Taking time to understand others’ motivations, beliefs, and values
Investigating
Gathering information, thoughts, and opinions through questions, active listening, and researching with reliable sources
Communicating
Organizing ideas, data, and information and sharing with clarity and precision
Healthy Decision Making
Using emotional intelligence and Biblical principles to support mental, physical, and spiritual health
Collaborating
Working with others toward a shared goal
Analyzing
Evaluating text and data to build understanding, form opinions, and find truth
Storytelling
Describing ideas, processes, and information that people can connect with personally
Reflecting and Revising
Thinking deeply about past actions and performance and making necessary adjustments
Ideating
Generating ideas to innovate and solve problems
Providing Feedback
Evaluating products, processes, and beliefs and providing constructive information to be used as a basis for improvement
Experimenting
Being willing to take a risk and test ideas, evaluate processes, and make changes based on results
Transferring Knowledge
Using past experiences and learned content, and synthesizing information to use in a new context
Influencing Change
Persuasively presenting ideas and motiving others to action
Producing Quality
Using accurate information, revising continuously, working with care to provide a product that has value to a greater audience
Models
We use several models of thinking and practice as students identify their own process of learning and develop personal academic goals.
Design Thinking and Sprints
Empathize | Define | Ideate | Prototype | Test
Systems Thinking
Holistic and big-picture view of our world and complex integrations
"Making Thinking Visual" Routines
Routines to develop student thinking and classroom culture
Socratic Method
Open-ended inquiry and using probing questions for deeper understanding