OUR SCHOOL | Student Experience

A DIFFERENT WAY TO LEARN

Our students strive to create spaces of trust and democracy, ensuring that the division we see so persistently in our country right now does not become the norm. Through regional and national partnerships, students have the opportunity to meet, network, and lead with other students and adults from across the region, country, and world.

NON-TRADITIONAL
EDUCATIONAL MODELS

In today’s world, teaching information alone is no longer enough. Students need to learn how to problem-solve, collaborate, analyze, and think critically. Algoma Venture Academy uses the following educational approaches in order to ensure all students are ready for life after high school:

PERSONALIZED LEARNING

Personalized learning allows students to co-design their education based on their unique abilities, strengths, skills, preferences, interests, backgrounds, and experiences. Learning at their own pace, students are active agents of their own learning and exercise voice and choice in determining what and how they learn. To aid in achieving the objectives of a personalized education, each student develops a personalized learning plan (PLP). Through personalized learning, AVA creates a self-directed environment for students to learn and grow to their full potential.

COMMUNITY BASED LEARNING

Community-based learning (CBL) incorporates meaningful community engagement with course content so that students get real-world experience while earning credit. CBL consists of a variety of strategies designed to engage students in learning at high standards, including community leadership and stewardship, civic education, environmental education, place-based learning, service learning, and work-based learning. Students can choose to take any of these paths throughout their time at Algoma Venture Academy. Through all of these strategies, the community provides the context for learning, students build on what they already know, and their work focuses on addressing the community’s vital conditions.

PROJECT BASED LEARNING

Project-based learning (PBL) promotes students’ education through active engagement in real-world and personally meaningful projects. Instead of learning content and being tested on it, students are engaging with the material and using it to inform their creation of a product, model, or presentation. This way, students demonstrate their development of skills and understanding of the information in an authentic way. Through this process, students develop in-depth content knowledge, gain skills valuable in today’s workplace and in life, such as critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication skills.

STUDENT BENEFITS

PATHWAY FOR STUDENTS WHO WANT
TO CHOOSE A NON-TRADITIONAL PATH

FOCUS ON LIFE
SKILLS MORE SO
THAN TRADITIONAL
SETTINGS

REAL WORLD
EXPERIENCE VIA
PRESENTATIONS,
PROJECTS AND
EXPERIENCES
WITHIN THE
COMMUNITY
BUSINESSES AND
ORGANIZATIONS

STILL GET ACCESS
TO ALL THE
EXTRACURRICULAR
ACTIVITIES AND
STUDENT SUPPORT
OFFERED THROUGH
ALGOMA SCHOOL
DISTRICT

STRONG
TEACHER-STUDENT
RELATIONSHIPS -
ONE ON ONE OR
SMALL GROUPS

GREAT FOR
STUDENTS WHO
LEARN BEST
THROUGH
HANDS-ON
LEARNING

SAME CREDIT
REQUIREMENTS
APPLY, WHILE
TRANSCRIPTS
MAY LOOK
DIFFERENT, THEY
ARE STILL
ACCEPTED BY
INSTITUTIONS OF
HIGHER LEARNING

GREAT FOR
STUDENTS WHO
LEARN BEST
THROUGH
HANDS-ON
LEARNING

SAME CREDIT REQUIREMENTS APPLY, WHILE TRANSCRIPTS MAY LOOK DIFFERENT, THEY ARE STILL ACCEPTED BY INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING

NO ONE CAN SAY IT AS WELL AS OUR
STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES

"Many students can’t sit still and want to learn by experiencing and using their hands. I love that the school is actually doing things and not just talking about things."