Our School

Legacy Preparatory Academy is committed to providing a culture where students become productive and valuable members of their communities and world. We believe high expectations, hard work, and enthusiasm are essential to achieving academic excellence and good character. These values instilled at Legacy Prep and research-proven curricula give our students the confidence to achieve anything! 

Learning the Past. Creating the Future. 

It was these ideas that spurred our new group on for many weeks, months, and long nights.  We researched, debated, and wrote our ideas into the school’s charter. Once it was passed by the State School Board, it was then ready for implementation.  

After many weeks of public information recruitment meetings, we cobbled together a group of 50 parents ready to trust the plan and make it happen. After thousands of volunteer hours, personal funds expended, numerous rocky bumps, and many witnessed miracles, our dream became a reality. 

We had the greatest group of volunteers who gave everything to provide an education for their children and thousands of other kids in the community. We had the most amazing teachers and staff who also gave their all to make order out of chaos. Legacy Preparatory Academy was truly a labor of love for every person involved.  

Maren Hilbig, Founder Legacy Preparatory Academy

Title 53A-1a-503 statutorily defines seven purposes for charter schools. Please provide a detailed description of how your school will meet these defined purposes. You may attach sample lesson plans and other information that demonstrates fulfillment of a stated purpose. If a purpose does not apply to your proposed school, please so indicate it.

1. Continue to improve student learning:

• LPA will assess all students in reading and math. This will be done through a pre-assessment after admission, as well as by regular assessments throughout the year, which include state-wide assessments and curriculum-based assessments. According to the results of the assessments and the teachers’ input, students will be placed in smaller achievement-level groups for the purpose of mastering the basics of language arts and math.
• Ongoing assessments from the designated curricula as well as continuous formative assessments will be administered to determine literacy and math competencies. Groups will be moved as needed at intervals that are conducive to the learning environment and students’ individual learning demands.
• Data from the K-3 DRA, ITBS, CRT, and the State Writing Assessment will be used to determine students’ proficiency levels and to develop, align, and enhance the curriculum for the purpose of improving student learning.
• Teachers will be assigned "coaches" for the purpose of refining professional skills and for support in monitoring the assessment of student progress.
• Teacher in-service meetings will be held regularly to review student progress and performance.

2. Encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods:

• Teachers will be trained in direct instruction teaching methods for the basic skill development or grammar stage of classical education. This stage generally includes grades K-4.
• Teachers of grades 5-8 will be trained in the "logic stage" of classical education using the multi-intelligence model and become proficient in tutoring, coaching, evaluation, etc., while teachers for 9th grade will be trained in the rhetoric stage.
• Teachers will be trained and competent in teaching the Core Knowledge curriculum.
• Teachers will be trained in the CHAMPS method (and/or another method) of classroom management. This will ensure that every student knows how to behave appropriately according to the situation, thus reducing the probability of discipline-related off-task time.

3. Create new professional opportunities for educators that allow them to participate in designing and implementing the learning program:

• LPA’s goal is to have a full staff for summer training. This will provide an opportunity for a faculty retreat wherein teachers may be trained in school curricula and teaching methods. They will also meet regularly as grade-level teams to refine lesson plans, timelines, and class schedules.
• In-service days will be included before the school year begins and planned throughout each school year for additional implementation needs (e.g. Core Knowledge Conference, Charter SchoolConference, Direct Instruction, etc.).
• Teachers will participate in data-based decision-making for ongoing alignment of curriculum and training before the next school year.

4. Increase the choice of learning opportunities for students:

• LPA will ultimately offer a comprehensive fine arts program that will include music, art, dance, and drama. These programs will follow the Core Knowledge Sequence to interrelate these subjects as well as core subjects. Students will participate in fine arts that range from ancient to modern. K-4 will be general music and art classes that correspond to core subjects, while the upper grades will have an opportunity to take dance, drama, music, art, and other extra-curricular classes as desired and needed.
• Assemblies will give the students opportunities to showcase their learning.
• LPA will utilize direct instruction, unlike many local schools.
• LPA will use Core Knowledge Sequence, while local schools use only portions of this program.

5. Establish new school models and forms of accountability that emphasize the measurement of learning outcomes and create innovative measurement tools:

• In addition to the State’s measurements and assessments for learning outcomes such as the DRA, the ITBS, the State Writing Assessment, and the CRT for grades K-9 and the designated curricula assessments. LPA will develop measurement tools that will be used to monitor skill level mastery in the basic subjects. These monitoring tools will be used on a frequent basis and assessed regularly for achievement group accuracy.
• Each year a school improvement plan is developed which will include results from parent and faculty surveys, and state and school testing data.

6. Provide greater opportunities for parental involvement in management decisions at the school level: (See also 53A-1a-508 (3)(h))

• The Founding Council consists of a number of parents whose children will attend LPA. They have been involved in decision-making from the onset.
• Parents can serve on auxiliary committees of the Governing Board.
• Parents will be strongly encouraged to provide 20 hours of service, per parent, to the school in areas of their choosing. This may include classroom volunteer, activity and/or club advisor, tutor/mentor, and/or additional school support (see Parent Involvement Document in the Public Policy section).

7. Expand public school choice in areas where schools have been identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under the No Child Left Behind Act:

• A large portion of schools in the Davis School District does not meet AYP in one general area, students with disabilities. LPA’s teaching strategy, Direct Instruction, is not only highly effective in teaching nonspecial education students but also those with disabilities. We will use inclusion and achievement-based grouping to address this issue.
• We will use the medium of Spanish radio and Spanish print ads to allow equal opportunities for all students. We will promote a multicultural atmosphere.
• We will use data-driven teaching tools, continually assess learning, enact school and student improvement plans, and work closely with parents and teachers to ensure that no child is left behind.

. 

LPA will be using the Core Knowledge Sequence. This Sequence contains detailed information to ensure that teachers know by grade and content level what must be taught and when. Furthermore, The Core Knowledge Sequence has been mapped and aligned with State Core Standards. All other curricular programs have been reviewed and found to meet or exceed state standards. Additionally, the Director will hold responsibility for the alignment of the school’s curriculum and state standards through observation, curriculum assessment, and staff development meetings.

Recognizing the importance of students becoming proficient in reading, writing, and math skills, assessments will be woven into each subject matter on a regular basis. Pre-assessments are a vital component of measuring individual student growth. In addition to the pre-assessment tool, the Saxon math program has weekly assessments that identify collective and individual skill level mastery as well as end-of-unit and summative assessments at the end of the year.

A benchmark tool will be used as an accurate indicator of skill level proficiency for aiding in placing students in their ―fluid‖ groups and for assisting the teacher in determining areas of emphasis in instruction for the classroom. Progress monitoring tools will be used three times a year as a means of monitoring student achievement in reading. This will be reviewed and recorded in each student’s file and database for future progress and student improvement plans.

The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) are a set of standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy development. They are designed to be short fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of pre-reading and early reading skills. This method has been approved and found effective in monitoring student development and will be used as a monitoring tool at LPA.

Third and fifth-grade students at LPA will participate in the ITBS testing in the fall, the sixth and ninth-grade students will participate in the State Writing Assessment in the early spring, and all grades will participate in the State CRT in language arts, math, science, and history (as it is developed). Baseline data will be compiled and disaggregated and compared with LPA goals as well as State baseline goals for the 2007 school year. Strands of strengths and weakness in addressing the State Standards will be determined and results will be used on an ongoing basis to align and strengthen curriculum and focus on explicit skill level concerns.

Teachers will be provided with a packet containing curricular emphasis and effectiveness goals. Training will be given to ensure understanding.

Administrator Oversight of State Standard Integration

The administrator will observe classroom time, utilize staff meetings, and review testing through program monitoring tools to ensure state standard alignment. Furthermore, test results from standardized testing may be used as an appropriate indicator of alignment and knowledge obtained.