Rather than skimming only the surface of many subjects, EL teachers and students organize the majority of curriculum and learning around what are called "expeditions".  The term expedition is used because we want our students to have serious, in-depth, and long-lasting learning experiences.  

Lewis and Clark went on an expedition--an incredible and unforgettable journey in which they met challenges, solved problems, and arrived at a destination that seemed unattainable.  The term expedition brings with it the sense that this will not just be a "lesson", or a "unit of study".  It will be instead a deep, wide, and engaging learning experience that may take anywhere from several weeks to several months to accomplish.  

Just as Lewis and Clark had clear goals from the beginning, but met with unexpected turns and adventure, so, too, do students and teachers on learning expeditions encounter new twists and unforeseen challenges.  Some of the most important learning takes place in response to these encounters. 

 

An expedition is organized around a topic that is both meaningful and important.  Various case studies, experiments, projects, and learning workshops are used to gather knowledge about the topic and generate interest.  All of the relevant tools of the various disciplines such as math, science, social studies, language arts, fine arts, music, etc., are used to study the topic and help students achieve a deep understanding of the various issues and challenges.  Throughout the expedition, teachers hold high expectations for all students and structure time and opportunity for high-quality work with multiple revisions. 

EL teachers practice "active pedagogy".  This means that teachers skillfully apply practices that are data-proven to be more effective in actively engaging students in the learning process.  These strategies facilitate active construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and meaningful application.  Not all students learn in the same way, consequently, our teachers use a variety of strategies to take advantage of individual styles and strengths.  Teachers participate in substantially more professional development training through the EL network than most teachers.  

 

Pedagogy is the “HOW” of what we do - the instructional methods we use.  Curriculum, then,  is the “WHAT”.

1. Repetition, Routine, and “General Preparedness.” General preparedness—that is, preparing for what we really can’t predict, but what we can anticipate generally—is an important aspect of education. Certain skills, techniques, and competencies (e.g., math and language basics) need to be developed, extended, and maintained regularly so that learning opportunities are not missed and common challenges do not overwhelm us. The nature of these skills is such that if they are not practiced regularly, they are lost and are then of no value in trying to solve the problem at hand. Routine practice and review are important when they are done with a purpose. Consequently, students at Venture will practice math, reading, and writing skills daily.  This may come in the form of a formal math lesson or graphing data collected from a survey as students learn research skills. 

2. Curriculum Integrated into Expeditions. The lion share of curriculum is delivered through learning expeditions in grades K-8 and in high school courses. Teachers align learning activities with the State standards in the respective disciplines. When studying State core curriculum within the context of a meaningful learning expedition, students develop stronger conceptual and applied understandings. Special emphasis is placed on teaching reading and writing not only in the general preparedness work sessions, but in all of the disciplines that are called upon to add insight to the main questions the expedition seeks to answer.   However, there are cases when a required standard simply does not fit into an expedition.  These standards are addressed as necessary with as much connection to real-world applicability and the expedition at hand as possible. 

3. Enrichment  and Electives (Service, Art, PE, Music).

• In grades K-8, arts, health, and other special curricula are delivered through "specials programs", integration into expeditions, and service projects.  
• High School students are provided with engaging elective courses that are designed as expeditions, make use of local resources (nature, experts, and fieldwork), and far exceed state requirements.  Please see our Venture High page for specific course offerings.
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curriculum Description by Pod:

• K-2 Pod consists of students in grades Kindergarten through 2nd, with kindergarten students working as a single group most of the time and 1st and 2nd graders mixed together.  Students spend significant time working on Singapore Mathematics and developing strong reading and writing skills.  Specials, or specially trained teachers, work with students on PE and Art in the afternoons.  As a whole group, this pod collaborates on expeditions.  Students participate in week-long intensives as a Pod.  Intensives are workshop style weeks that replace regular learning schedules with fun experiences that cover other aspects of the curriculum. 
   
• 3-5 Pod consists of all students in grades 3 through 5.  These students are intermixed in all crews (homeroom), but break into different groups to work on Language Arts and Mathematics.  Students spend significant time working on Singapore Mathematics and developing strong reading and writing skills.  Students participate in Art and PE with specials.  The 3-5 Pod collaborates on expeditions. Students participate in week-long intensives as a Pod.  Intensives are workshop style weeks that replace regular learning schedules with fun experiences that cover other aspects of the curriculum. 
  
   
• 6-8 Pod consists of students in grades 6 through 8.  These students are intermixed in all crews, but break into different groups to work on Language Arts, Science, Social Studies and Mathematics.  These students also have elective choices in the afternoon that might include Band, Art, PE, or a specialty course designed by their teachers.  Students work on separate expeditions in Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science simultaneously. Students choose from a list of  week-long intensives, which are workshop style weeks that replace regular learning schedules with fun experiences that cover other aspects of the curriculum. 
  
   
• The 9-12 Pod is our high school which will be housed in a separate building by Fall 2013.  Students are intermixed in Crews, but attend courses based on their individual progression toward graduation.  Students participate in separate expeditions in their Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science courses simultaneously.  Students have many elective choices ranging from the required PE and Fine Arts credits to specialty courses designed by their teachers, such as "Environmental Studies:  Wetlands," "Creative Writing:  Flash Fiction," and Yearbook.  Students choose from a list of two-week long intensives, which are credit bearing courses taught in a workshop style.  

We believe that assessment should be primarily “for” learning, not just “of” learning. This means that assessment should provide ongoing feedback to both the teacher and the student with the purpose of helping students push their work to ever-higher levels. In order for this to happen, assessments need to be authentic. This is just a fancy way of saying that if, for instance, you want to test how many free-throw baskets you can make out of ten tries, the most authentic way to do that is to get on a basketball court and shoot ten shots. A less authentic assessment would be to take a multiple-choice test that asked questions about proper free-throw shooting techniques. A student may be able to pass the multiple-choice test and yet not be able to make any baskets!

Where possible and appropriate, students will gather their best work into portfolios that shows their progress. These portfolios will be a major part of student-led parent conferences where students will report their progress to parents.

In addition to product and performance based assessments, Venture academy will administer the required statewide standardized tests as well as any other standardized test that we believe will provide useful information on basic skill development and cognitive abilities.  High school students are required to take the ACT exam and will be offered ACT preparation courses.  

Venture recognizes that the way in which a school is structured, or organized, affects its ability to accomplish its goals.

Time for Student and Adult Learning. The kind of work involved in learning expeditions requires adequate time and flexibility. Venture Academy will structure schedules to allow for this.  Likewise, teachers need adequate time to learn, prepare, and evaluate if they are to effectively carry out their plans.  This requires a schedule that allows time for these activities.  Please be supportive in picking your student up from school promptly, as significant teacher work, including trainings, class prep, and collaboration on projects, takes place between 3:15 and 5:00.   

Multiage Groupings. Venture Academy recognizes that just as not every child learns to walk at exactly the same age, not all students advance academically at exactly the same pace or at the same time. Learning often comes in leaps, for instance, and not in a simple, steady progression.  At Venture Academy, we are more interested in where an individual child is at a given moment and how we can help that child move forward with his best effort, than we are about what grade they happen to be in. When students are divided by grade, teachers tend to focus more on the grade they are in than on where each child is individually.  

Part of our school structure that allows us to place more focus on individuals is through multiage groupings. With multiage groupings, students of various ages and abilities learn and work together. These groupings more accurately recreate the natural ways that people in a community of differing ages and abilities learn and work together. Venture will be softly divided into pods.  Teachers and students within these pods will work cooperatively and flexibly to create the best learning environment possible.  Students are broken into the following pods:

• K-2 Pod - Kindergarten through 2nd grade 
• 3-5 Pod-  3rd Through 5th grades
• 6-8 Pod - 6th through 8th grades
• 9-12 Pod - high school students (with intention to break this into 2 pods as we grow)
   

Adults Know Students Well. For students, one of the keys to success with EL style learning is the degree to which students are able to develop long-term relationships (longer than a single year) with teachers. Venture will provide structures that allow for teachers to have significant contact with students for more than one year.

The Primacy of Self-Discovery 
Learning happens best with emotion, challenge and the requisite support. People discover their abilities, values, passions, and responsibilities in situations that offer adventure and the unexpected. In Expeditionary Learning schools, students undertake tasks that require perseverance, fitness, craftsmanship, imagination, self-discipline, and significant achievement. A teacher's primary task is to help students overcome their fears and discover they can do more than they think they can.

The Having of Wonderful Ideas 
Teaching in Expeditionary Learning schools fosters curiosity about the world by creating learning situations that provide something important to think about, time to experiment, and time to make sense of what is observed.

The Responsibility for Learning
Learning is both a personal process of discovery and a social activity. Everyone learns both individually and as part of a group. Every aspect of an Expeditionary Learning school encourages both children and adults to become increasingly responsible for directing their own personal and collective learning.

Empathy and Caring 
Learning is fostered best in communities where students' and teachers' ideas are respected and where there is mutual trust. Learning groups are small in Expeditionary Learning schools, with a caring adult looking after the progress and acting as an advocate for each child. Older students mentor younger ones, and students feel physically and emotionally safe.

Success and Failure
All students need to be successful if they are to build the confidence and capacity to take risks and meet increasingly difficult challenges. But it is also important for students to learn from their failures, to persevere when things are hard, and to learn to turn disabilities into opportunities.

Collaboration and Competition
Individual development and group development are integrated so that the value of friendship, trust, and group action is clear. Students are encouraged to compete not against each other, but with their own personal best and with rigorous standards of excellence.

Diversity and Inclusion
Both diversity and inclusion increase the richness of ideas, creative power, problem-solving ability, and respect for others. In Expeditionary Learning schools, students investigate and value their different histories and talents as well as those of other communities and cultures. Schools and learning groups are heterogeneous.

The Natural World
A direct and respectful relationship with the natural world refreshes the human spirit and teaches the important ideas of recurring cycles and cause and effect. Students learn to become stewards of the earth and of future generations.

Solitude and Reflection
Students and teachers need time alone to explore their own thoughts, make their own connections, and create their own ideas. They also need time to exchange their reflections with other students and with adults.

Service and Compassion
We are crew, not passengers. Students and teachers are strengthened by acts of consequential service to others, and one of an Expeditionary Learning school's primary functions is to prepare students with the attitudes and skills to learn from and be of service.

Venture, just as your local public school, does have a Student Service section to our school for those who qualify.  Our instructional design keeps student in their assigned class, if needed, a child (who qualifies) will only be taken out of class during the same instructional time.

School districts and charter schools are required by Utah law, 53A1a-704(10), to inform parents of students with IEP's enrolled in public schools, of the availability of a scholarship to attend a private school through the Carson Smith Scholarship Program.                

The address of the Internet website maintained by the USOE that provides prospective applicants and their parents with program information and application forms for the CSS Program http://www.schools.utah.gov/sars/Quick-Links/Carson-Smith-Scholarship.aspx