What Kishami Academy is NOT

Kishami Academy is not your typical school.

We are independent: not connected to a school district or company. Therefore we do not have to betray our drive to learn, our unique approaches, or our individual differences to align with someone else's.

We are private: this means that we require tuition to function, to pay for the overhead, the salaries, the student supplies and food. It does not mean we are connected to any religion. In fact, we are open-minded and when we do talk about religion we attempt to bring up the perspectives of the major three religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) and some of the smaller belief systems.

These two things mean that we are not conservative, we are not religious, we are not Christian, we are not traditional.

We do not subscribe to the belief that you do what you're told without reason. We encourage questions. We offer explanations -- we try to connect everything that we are learning to real life and the future.

We believe that if you are old enough to ask a question, you are old enough for the answer -- in an age-appropriate manner.

We are not curriculum-driven. We are not test-driven. We do have some curriculum that we use, but it is not followed to perfection because we find that outside material is often needed to help grasp concepts. We also allow the world, our students, our parents, and situations to guide what topics may be talked about, discussed, or taught. This means that classes cover Founding Documents of the United States, Empathy, Anger, Drama, Prepositions, Chemistry, Energy, and more. We do have a template that guides our units through a three-year world-covering program, but some topics are more important that they supersede our plans.

Our students are encouraged to be self-directed in their learning. We go through stages of instruction in the different areas of our school (set up in a Montessori-type style, so I'm told). Students are introduced to subjects and assigned classes based on their individual inquiries. Students periodically are assigned career exploration projects where they look at the schooling and qualifications needed while dabbling in experiments.

Our school is small. We have a vision for shadowing, volunteering, community projects/engagement, and more. However, at this moment our income does not allow for all that we desire. We do what we can with what we have while opening the windows and doors to the future for our students.