Our 15-acre campus is a prepared learning environment organized into two distinct schools, Reyes Maria Ruiz Leadership Academy, Grades K-6; and Aim Higher College Prep Academy, Grades 7-8. Each has its own identity, organization and theme in order to improve instruction. We have organized the schools into teams that correspond to their respective standardized testing levels of second through sixth and seventh through eighth grades. These teams will utilize the data results from these test years to place students into correct cohorts, so teachers can create an Individual Learning Plan for each student, and adjust their teaching strategies. Each team is also organized to correspond to the “Trivium” curriculum levels: Grammar - Kindergarten through the fifth grade; Logic – sixth to eighth grades, and Rhetoric I, grades nine and ten, and Rhetoric II, grades eleven and twelve, with Honors available for students who qualify. The teacher is the facilitator of learning and they are required to structure their classroom by organizing their students into cohorts of excelling, meeting, approaching, or falls far below, based upon an analysis of at least the last three years. The teacher then prepares annual goals and teaching strategies for each of their students and adjusts them each week based upon an internal assessment. The goal is to have more than eighty-five percent of our students pass the Reading AZ-Merit, and have seventy-five percent of students pass the Math AZ-Merit by the end of the 2016 Academic Year.
GRADES K-3
Grades K through 3rd of Reyes Maria Ruiz Leadership Academy has 12 classrooms and has a current enrollment of 330 students; its primary goals are to guide and nurture the spirit of the child and to educate the whole child by developing character as well as academics. Character teaches leadership and promotes a sense of civic responsibility. The curriculum has as its foundation the “Trivium” philosophy of education. This level, Grammar, focuses on memorization of basic facts, acquisition of language, and history. The four core areas of instruction are: Math/Science, Language Arts, History/Social Studies, all reinforced with electives in the Classics.
GRADES 4-6
Grades 4 through 6 of Reyes Maria Ruiz Leadership Academy has 6 classrooms and has a current enrollment of 200 students, and its curriculum too is based on the “Trivium” philosophy of education. This level, Logic, focuses on the piecing together of basic facts and the logical interpretation of them. The four core areas of instruction are: Math/Science, Language Arts, History/Social Studies, all reinforced with electives in the Classics.
The primary educational goal for Team Two is to expand a child’s knowledge in all areas with critical thinking and problem solving development. Students’ self-esteem and confidence is built up so they feel safe to explore and create new knowledge. These are critical years when children develop their sense of self, who they are, and who they dream of becoming in the future. In this important transitional time of their lives a loving and nurturing environment is provided where children feel valued and unafraid to express themselves.
REYES MARIA RUIZ LEADERSHIP ACADEMY MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of Reyes Maria Ruiz Leadership Academy is to prepare students to acquire foundational knowledge, seek truth, and become international servant leaders committed to changing the world.
ESPIRITU COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of ESPIRITU Community Development Corporation is: We form Intellectual, Virtuous, and Loving Servant Leaders who form other leaders, who build spirit in their families and communities.
