About A+UP Charter School
Through personalized learning and strong relationships, A+UP sparks a passion for learning and character growth in the students we serve. Our goal is to coach each scholar to realize their unlimited potential, take ownership of their success, and have positive impacts to their communities.
Mission
A+UP scholars and coaches dedicate themselves to the pursuit of being better thinkers and better people. Our team of educators is warm and demanding with our scholars, expecting each person to learn and grow each day. We are a high-feedback organization, creating a culture of high expectations for each scholar and coach. We are honest with each other and ourselves about our performance, using results—not good intentions—as our north star. We are committed to equity in our school and preparing our learners for a dynamic and challenging world that needs their talents.
Vision
Our Model
Scholastic Achievement
Personalized Learning
Our Learning Coaches provide regular individualized coaching sessions to build relationships with and learn about their scholars, harnessing each scholar’s individual passions to make their learning engaging and relevant.
Our scholars’ personal strengths and experiences guide their development through customized learning paths, giving meaning and context to their learning.
Growth Focused
We leverage the power of technology to adapt to the scholar’s precise academic level, helping scholars make progress regardless of whether they enter at, above, or below grade level.
We encourage gifted scholars to pursue more advanced learning goals, keeping them engaged and challenged throughout the learning process. Scholars with learning challenges can work towards mastery at an adjusted pace, with extra coaching to get them up to grade level as quickly as possible.
Character Development
Learner Agency
We encourage scholars to embrace a growth mindset, believing in their own ability to grow. Scholars feel more confident when they have a sense of ownership in their learning environment.
Our scholars commit to being willing to learn, approaching each experience and challenge with a unique combination of ownership, self-control, persistence, integrity, curiosity, empowerment, and social intelligence.
We regularly recognize and celebrate the members of our community who demonstrate these virtues.
TBRI (Trust-Based Relational Intervention)
Our coaches form deep relationships with students that form the foundation of our work together. We aim to demonstrate warmth and acceptance, while also fostering a sense of deep accountability. If a scholar deviates from these norms or exhibits behavior that violates trust, it is that scholar’s responsibility to make amends with the learning community.
Our Learning Coaches hold scholars accountable not only for their behavior but also for restoring balance to the learning community when their behavior choices disrupt it. We develop their sense of social responsibility by helping them understand that a community is only as strong as the people who comprise it and that each scholar has a meaningful role to play.
Community Immersion
Socially Embedded
Our campus is embedded within the communities they serve. Scholars learn in environments such as civic centers, museums, and educational institutions so their development occurs both in and out of the classroom.
Our scholars create learning communities by building relationships with their fellow scholars and coaches. Exploring while collaborating helps them connect with scholars developing at different competency rates.
Open-Walled
Learning is constant and happens anytime, anywhere. Our scholars are not confined to desks or traditional classroom structures; instead, they collaborate with other scholars to create the environment that best supports their style of learning.
Our Learning Coaches do not typically assign homework. Instead, they hold each scholar responsible for completing their personalized learning paths and projects to remain on track academically.
Families are invited to actively participate in their child’s learning experience to reinforce the lessons learned after the scholar leaves the classroom.