Who We Are
We're Excell Academy, and We're Changing Tomorrows for Children Today.
Brief History and Rationale for Excell Academy
Sabrina Williams is the founder and executive director of Excell Academy. Excell Academy was founded over seven years ago as a result of Sabrina's extensive work, experience and research in gifted education. Excell Academy was developed with all students in mind, all achievement levels, all educational backgrounds, and all nationalities. Sabrina, along with Excell Academy staff and Board of Directors, believes that high expectations and challenging curriculum needs to be available to all children, and all children can benefit from many of the educational strategies and philosophies of gifted education. Excell Academy is dedicated to providing an academically challenging educational experience for children who have historically been excluded from this kind of opportunity. Excell Academy is also dedicated to providing a safe and comfortable learning atmosphere for its students, staff, and community.
Founder/Executive Director (CEO)
Excell Academy was designed:
With families in mind who want a quality choice for their children's educational experience.
With children in mind who want to enjoy learning.
With students in mind who want to be intellectually challenged.
With learners in mind who want to be creatively stimulated.
With the community in mind who want to be included in public education.
With educators in mind who want to use their professional skills to help shape the future.
DIRECT INSTRUCTION
Direction Instruction is a structured method of teaching reading and small individualized groups. We will be using the Reading Mastery Series. This highly effective series stresses early decoding skills and advanced comprehension of reading texts. Direction Instruction teaches students not only WHAT to learn, but HOW to learn. Basic components of Direct Instruction include:
- A Tightly Coupled Curriculum
- Consistent Staff Development and Monitoring
- A Structured School-Wide Management System
- Strong Parent Involvement Program
Literature-based reading and language arts enrichment will also be integrated into the reading program.
CORE KNOWLEDGE
The Core Knowledge Sequence (CKS) is a specific, carefully sequenced body of factual information and skills that is designed to build a broad foundation of knowledge for elementary students in the areas of American history, government, world history, geography, science, math, literature, English, music, and art. Developed by educators, subject specialists, and parents under the direction of Dr. E.D. Hirsch, CKS was influenced by curricula used in countries that score high on international assessments of student achievements. CKS is taught in over 800 schools throughout the United States. It comprises approximately half of the school’s curriculum. The other half is used for instruction in the skill areas of reading, writing, physical education and local curriculum requirements. Consistency of curriculum content in all classes at each grade level is an important feature of Core Knowledge schools.
WHAT IS RESPONSIVE CLASSROOM
Excell Academy's teaching and administrative staff is trained in the Responsive Classroom approach to learning. The Responsive Classroom philosophy entails schools becoming communities where children feel understood, safe, valued and respected, and where they learn to value and respect others. Children attain the greatest cognitive and social growth when they learn to care for themselves, and the school environment. Daily experience in the classroom has taught us to integrate academic and social learning throughout the school day, nurturing students who are informed, ethical problem solvers. Excell Academy is excited to utilize this approach to learning school wide.
6510 Zane Avenue North #107
Brooklyn Park, MN. 55429
Phone: (763) 533-0500
Fax: (763) 533-0508
