Jr. School at Uchenna Academy

Traditional Subjects, Innovative Approaches

Uchenna Academy Jr. School is an environment where learning comes to life for 7th and 8th graders. We provide a rigorous college-prep curriculum led by master teachers who inspire students to love learning. With caring teachers, well-structured academic and athletic programs, students can build solid study habits while exploring new interests and making great friends. Beyond academics, we strive to build confidence and character in our middle school students.

By virtue of small class sizes, experienced teachers, and our culture of knowing every child, we are able to instill critical knowledge and building-block-skills (“traditional” mastery), while still having time and space for in-depth discussion, exploration of side topics, and innovative assignments.

The Jr. School teachers enjoy middle school students and the energy that they bring to the classroom. Teachers provide support for all students to achieve their highest potential level through exceptional instruction, individual attention, and extra support during tutorials.

• Academic classroom size is limited to 12 students, with typical classroom sizes being 8-10
• 100% of Jr. School students participate in at least one co-curricular activity

Smaller class sizes allow students to regularly seek feedback from their teachers and receive differentiated instruction.

Reach Ahead Credits – Students who qualify are offered to take grade 9 high school credit courses.

Academic enrichment – going deeper into the curriculum, rather than accelerating – challenges students as they master concepts and engage critical thinking skills across every subject area. Alongside regular grammar and vocabulary-building exercises, students learn the steps involved in annotating and analyzing a text, researching and citing secondary sources, and drafting, editing and polishing essays, creative writing, and lab reports.
‍
Students’ academic and social-emotional skills are developed with intentional mentorship and guidance on organizational strategies, executive functioning skills, effective communication, and community service.

Academic progress and social/personal development go hand in hand. We challenge our students to be their best through a period in their life when they go through tremendous physical and emotional growth. The faculty understands these changes and realize that emotional well being through these tumultuous times is as important as academic achievement. Our students are challenged by a rigorous curriculum that helps them see what they are capable of accomplishing when they set ambitious goals for themselves. As they progress into high school, students are exposed a growing range of academic and extracurricular opportunities that help them gain a better understanding of who they are.

Daily Athletic Training – Athletics provide a good opportunity to learn the value of competition, teamwork, and good sportsmanship.

Students are coached by an exceptional group of coaches who help students develop skills as athletes and as students of good character. Academics and tutorials always come before athletics.

Class Trips – Jr. School at Uchenna Academy offers a wide range of excellent educational experiences for our students outside of the classroom.  Trips to local art shows, health institutions or science field trips are all part of the Jr. School experience.

We emphasize experiential learning with hands-on experiments, the development of analytical skills through research, and an ongoing assessment of the relationship between science, technology, environment and humans.

Character Education  

At Uchenna Academy, we actively teach students to demonstrate kindness towards themselves and others. Our teachers model and encourage problem-solving, care and inclusion as an everyday practice. Interpersonal difficulties are an opportunity to practice dialogue, respectful self-advocacy and consideration for others, as well as build social-emotional awareness and self-regulation.

Each month, we also highlight one of the following values: Citizenship, Compassion, Courage, Fairness, Honesty, Perseverance, Respect, Responsibility, Self-Discipline, Trustworthiness.

We address issues related to injustice with knowledge embedded in our curriculum as well as days of acknowledgment throughout the year, including the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Pink Shirt Day for anti-bullying, and the Let’s Talk Day for mental health.