909 N. San Antonio Road, Los Altos, CA 94022
Phone: 650.941.4350
Fax: 866.231.0407
info@sileducation.com

SAT/ACT

Academic Philosophy

Customized Classroom

In our mastery learning model we set rigorous learning outcomes and encourage teachers and students to customize the path each student takes towards achieving those goals. By allowing students to move through a course at their own pace -- and providing opportunities for students to address questions, work through confusions, explore connections, and produce authentic demonstrations of mastery -- we ensure that each student achieves meaningful understanding of every topic within a course.

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Mastery Learning

SIL teachers have a philosophy of mastery learning. We don't penalize for honest mistakes made along the way, but we also dont consider a class complete until we've seen real understanding. Instead our teachers use their knowledge of each student to conduct an authentic assesment of progress.

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Student-Centered Approach

SIL students are scientists, atheletes, musicians, visual-and-performing artists, writers, reformers, and entrepreneurs, and we encoruage them to design projects that will give them a head start in pursuing specific college programs and careers. That can mean anything from completing the senior project as an animated film to simply choosing to read one book over another in English class. An education at SIL is similar to what students will face in college -- self-directed learning towards unique goals.

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Self-Paced, Flexible Scheduling

SIL is a year-round school, open seven days a week, from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Students may begin coursework at any time, scheduling one-to-one or small-group classes at their convenience. Based on their instructional needs, students schedule recurring lessons -- meeting for class every day, a few times a week, or just once weekly -- or learn as independent-study students, scheduling lessons only as needed. Credit is awarded by the semester, and each semester is designed to be completed within four months, although students may establish early or delayed deadlines. After an initial consultation between teacher and student, the teacher crafts a custom course plan with a timeline of assignment due dates, for which the student is held accountable. As our teachers have a philosophy of mastery learning, assignment parameters may be altered an due dates shifted, at the teacher's and department chair's discretion, to accommodate student needs.

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Supporting Success

At our core, we are passionate educators who believe that the best approach is to adopt a new one for each student. We differentiate instruction and assessment to reach students who need extra attention and those who need an extra challenge. Our study hall is a space where students work individually and collaboratively, and get help from teachers and peers as needed. Our college guidance program matches students with colleges that are the best fit, not just the most exclusive. And faculty mentors assist students in the transition to a variety of college environments -- before, during, and beyond the first year of college.

Our teachers and administrators keep an open dialogue with students and their parents so that everyone may contribute to academic success. Several times a month teachers share comprehensive progress reports by email, and we invite parents to reach out to teachers and administrators anytime. Parents also access a regularly updated online gradebook at www.engrade.com/sileducation; our online gradebook is private and secure.

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Our Homework Solution

We don't believe in busy work. Instead we assign homework that's calibrated for each student, designed to deliver a relevant and meaningful experience. Projects completed outside of class help students to work through challenging concepts and find creative solutions. Why just read about the world when you can also discover it? Why just study science when you can do science?

Students are encouraged to spend time in our drop-in study hall before or after class, working independently or getting extra help from teachers and friends so that they won't have to take their homework home.

We value technological literacy. Within and beyond the classroom, students regularly use online resources -- such as Google Scholar, TED Talks, The New York Times, Radiolab, and This American Life -- and they use online tools to submit work: Google Docs, podcasting and video editing software, blogs, and programming environments. Ours is a 21st century approach.

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Cultivating Community

SIL is designed to cultivate students who are self-aware, life-long learners -- invested in their communities. Students at SIL share ideas with one another in a supportive environment, open yet scaffolded. As a complement to individualized learning, we recognize the importance of peer collaboration. Our one-to-one and small-group classes are built to accommodate group work and field trips whenever possible.

Beyond the classroom, our student government meets weekly over pizza to plan service-learning events, movie nights, ski trips, math clubs, and even prom. Every Friday students and teachers get together for a schoolwide BBQ (vegetarians welcome) -- the social anchor of our week.

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