We celebrate scholar character, citizenship and creativity, academics and attendance. We celebrate daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly through rewards and incentives, class and whole school celebrations, programs and much more to ensure we recognize scholars often for quick wins and long-term goals.

Social-Emotional Learning

We believe in helping scholars develop strategies and skills that create a positive self-image, promote respectful relationships and build their capacity to recognize and manage their own emotions and make responsible decisions.

Toolbox Project is a simple and practical metaphor directing children to the experience and awareness of 12 innate Tools that already exist inside them. It’s a research-based, community-tested Kindergarten through sixth grade social and emotional learning (SEL) program that builds and strengthens children’s inherent capacity for resilience, self-mastery and empathy for self and others through its curricula, methods, and strategies.

Positive Community

Classroom Morning Meeting

Morning meeting as an engaging way to start each day, build a strong sense of community, and set children up for success socially and academically. Morning meeting includes a routine of a greeting, share time, a group activity, and a morning message. Teachers implement morning meetings to have a consistent community-building routine focused on helping students get to know more about their classmates

School wide Morning Meeting

We believe in building family and community. Morning meeting provides opportunities beyond the classroom for learning and achievement. Scholars learn to translate classroom behavior expectations into audience behaviors, practice leadership and public speaking, and grow a vision of themselves as contributing members of a larger community. Morning meeting is held on Mondays after breakfast in Smith Hall and lasts approximately 20 minutes with an intentional focus on our core values and our SEL tool from The Toolbox Project.

Core Values

Promise Academy has made a commitment to developing scholars who have strong character and demonstrate our values in their interactions with others. In an effort to highlight and strengthen the character and nurture the values of our scholars, we study a Tool for the month based on Tolbox (SEL curriculum) and our core school values. As a school, our scholars learn to implement the tools and values into their daily activity. Teachers observe and reinforce the behaviors throughout the school and at the end of the month teachers nominate scholars who demonstrate the core value of the month.

Our school values define the expectations we have for students and adults in our building.

Love of Learning

I have the power to take responsibility of my own learning. I will value all learning experiences and use discovery to create the third way!

Scholars will show their Love of Learning by:

Results Oriented

I will reflect and make meaning from every new experience and use what I learn to keep getting better.

Scholars will show they are Results Oriented by:

Staying focused on achieving my goal
Believing that practice and effort can improve my ability to learn
Applying my strengths
Finding ways to address learning challenges
Responding positively to challenges and setbacks

Commitment to Excellence

I believe in striving for excellence in everything I do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit.

Scholars will show their Commitment to Excellence:

Set and achieve ambitious goals
Come to school on time, prepared to learn with materials and assignments
Strive for excellence in everything I do
Be flexible, positive, and collaborative to be my personal best.
Lead by example to inspire, and commit to learn more, do more and become more.

Caring

I use words and actions that show support to others. I value other’s thoughts and opinions. I am respectful and kind in my actions, thoughts, and words.

Scholars show they Care by:

Cooperating and working well with others in a respectful and caring way
Asserting myself and getting involved. Standing up for others and myself
Responsible for my actions and words
Empathetic to others’ feelings
Self-control. I will take control of my body and my words

Drive

We focus on our goals. We take risks and see mistakes and failures as opportunities to learn and grow. We lead with strength and determination to get the job done.

Scholars will show they are Driven by:

Scholar Self Evaluations

At the end of each month, scholars will rate themselves on how successful they’ve been with demonstrating our school values for the month. They will give themselves, based on our values rubric, a number score 1-5 with 5 being the highest and justify the reason why they gave themselves the score.

MBS Classes

Involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skill. Arts learning can also improve motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork.

Research has shown that a strong arts programming in schools helps close a gap that has left many children behind. Art education develops creativity and problem-solving skills, improves judgement, and shows children that there are multiple perspectives. It also encourages inventiveness, helping foster innovative thinkers. And that’s why every scholar at Promise Academy will get the wonderful opportunity to discover their art. Whether it’s visual, fine, or performing art, every student will discover who they are through MBS. MBS stands for Mind, Body and Spirit. Our goal is that every scholar find joy through music, mindfulness, art or physical education.

Ashe’ Ceremony

Every Friday afternoon at 1:00, scholars and teachers gather together for our Ashe’ Ceremony. Ashe’ is a Nigerian word that means a coming together of living and non-living things. During the Ashe’ Ceremony, teachers and scholars are recognized for their commitment to our school values during the month. We discuss our school values and rate ourselves on how well we demonstrated them throughout the week as a school and recognize scholars whose behavior and academics exceeded our expectations for the month. The last Friday of every month, we will announce the Scholar of the Month and celebrate them as a school as they are celebrated for their commitment to our core values.

PBIS

Discipline is a part of every school. At Promise we incorporate strategies that redirect negative behavior, and have a very positive effect on our school culture. It takes a lot of work to maintain a culture of positivity in a school, but positively framed redirection and reinforcements reduce discipline-related issues, improve academics, and create a better place to learn and grow.

Scholars receive a Daily behavior log that is completed by the teacher and sent home in their homework folder. The behavior log is our daily communication with parents on how their scholar demonstrated our core values throughout the school day.

Parents are expected to sign the behavior log and place it back in their scholar’s homework folder to return to school the next day. Teachers use Kickboard as a behavior management tool to track and recognize positive scholar behaviors. Kickboard tracks behavior and attendance and allows scholars to earn points/dollars towards rewards or consequences for their actions.

Teachers reward scholars points daily based on positive behavior and demonstration of our core values. The Kickboard system automatically calculates and keeps track of points that scholars earn throughout the day. At the end of the week, scholar points will be reviewed by the Dean of Scholars. Scholars who’ve earned 50 or more points for the week will receive tiered incentives.

School Culture