The 21st Century Student

Students at AIM~Academy In Manayunk actively engage in cultivating the skills necessary to thrive and excel in the 21st century. Our students think globally, make connections, create and collaborate every day through meaningful, interactive, research-based experiences. Through continued individualized academic attention and college preparation, our students are being groomed for leadership in their fields and their communities. .

English

High School English at AIM is both rigorous and engaging. Guided by the research-based LETRS framework developed by Louisa Moats and Nancy Hennessy, all of our students receive rigorous literacy instruction with a specific focus on morphology, fluency, comprehension, metacognition, decoding and encoding.

Literature: Through the use of assistive technology, all books from our curriculum as well as endless independent choices are available and attainable for our students. AIM high school students read relevant, award-winning literature, which inspires powerful discussion and thoughtful, reflective writing pieces. We are determined that our students will walk away from their high school experience having been exposed to both the classics as well as more contemporary literature that gets to the heart of modern issues.

Dual Enrollment at Cabrini College: Our seniors are part of an exciting dual enrollment program with Cabrini College. All AIM Seniors attend a freshman English course at Cabrini under the guidance of an AIM faculty auditor. This enables them to understand the work expectations and time demands of a real college level course while providing the added benefit of obtaining college credit and high school credit simultaneously.

Writing: All of our high school students attend a daily writing class. Our writing teachers utilize graphic organizers and technology to support the Executive Function skills necessary to generate a compelling piece of writing, whether it is in classic poetic forms or expository/persuasive text. Students at the high school level continue to engage in the steps of the writing process to refine their work, in preparation for the demands of college writing.

Wilson, Just Words: For our students who need explicit instruction in decoding and spelling, we continue to offer daily Wilson and Just Words instruction, delivered with fidelity.

Advanced Word Study: Once a student has “graduated” from Wilson, they take part in one of AIM’s newer courses, Advanced Word Study. This course offers students explicit and systematic instruction in morphology- pre-fixes, roots, and suffixes. This year-long course engages the students in an in-depth study of language structures and harnesses morphology as another vital tool for comprehension of advanced vocabulary.

Latin I & Latin II: As part of our language progression, we offer two years of Latin. While many schools have abandoned the study of Latin, the research behind the benefits for students with language-based learning disabilities is profound. Latin provides students with a deeper understanding of the English language and builds bridges between all of their previous language instruction.

Math

Math becomes a favorite subject at AIM through the use of multi-sensory, individualized and rigorous instruction. Students who may have once felt anxious about their mathematical abilities quickly learn that at AIM, higher-level mathematical concepts are completely attainable. Our math teachers use the extensive research of the NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) to drive the focus of their instruction. We continue to approach concepts from a conceptual level and build toward more abstract procedures. Some of the same issues that make reading a challenge can cause difficulties with math comprehension and application; language, memory, processing, retrieval speed and fluency can all contribute to students' mathematical frustration. Through our small class sizes, teachers recognize different learning styles and effectively implement structured, exciting, research-based instruction to help each student excel in the area of mathematics.

Math Courses Include:

• Algebra
• Algebra II
• Geometry
• Pre-Calculus

Science

In Science, our high school students participate in highly engaging experiments, which correlate to the Pennsylvania State Standards. These interactive labs require students to follow the steps of the scientific method in order to gain deep conceptual understanding. From traditional high school dissections and chemistry labs to the implementation of twenty-first century technology, our students not only gain necessary and relevant scientific concepts, but they also delve deeply into the language of science through the exploration of morphology.

Science Courses Include:

• Environmental Science
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics

History

Our high school students engage in the deep and meaningful study of American and World History through close analysis of both primary and secondary text resources, project-based approaches, and the use of cross-curricular connections. Previously learned strategies for text-reading, note-taking, and assessment are reinforced and utilized. Through the use of literary connections, technology, visiting experts, and field trips, we engage our students in meaningful inquiry-based research and analysis. Research shows that this depth of knowledge provides for long-term understanding.

History Courses Include:

• Western Civilization: A study of Ancient People & Cultures
• World Heritage: World History from the 1300 to Present-day
• 20th Century History: The American Century
• Senior Seminar: a survey course that focuses on a different geographic region each year and culminates in domestic & international travel opportunities.

Career Academy

AIM's Career Academy inspires our Juniors and Seniors to explore their affinities first-hand through participation in mentorships and internships with businesses and organizations throughout the Philadelphia Area. Through their work, our students progress through the curriculum using practical hands-on experiences to better conceptualize the information taught in their classes. Not only do these students make deeper meaning from their classroom learning as a result of their participation in the Career Academy, they also develop the critical interview and resume building skills that are necessary for success in college and beyond. As students build their paths to college, they attend formal ACT trainings, take the PLAN (the ACT practice exam), and use AIM as their gateway to ACT accommodations. We offer readers, scribes, and other accommodations for those who qualify and we also are an approved testing site.

Technology

Technology use at AIM's Upper School is cutting edge. Each of our high school students has a Macbook loaded with research-based assistive software, including: Don Johnston's Solo Suite, Read Naturally and Fasttmath. Additionally, our students use a variety of web-based programs such as Google Applications (earth, docs, forms, sites, sketch-up, scribe, etc.), CAST, Storybird, Glogster, Edmodo, Many Eyes, I-Flash, Geometer’s Sketchpad, Timeliner, Prezi, Scratch, Sumo Paint, Garage Band, and Diigo. All of these tools inspire our students and teachers to work collaboratively in becoming twenty-first century students and the twenty-first century educators. In addition to our 1:1 laptop program, teachers and students use SmartBoards throughout the school to foster interactive, meaningful learning experiences across the curricular areas of Reading, Writing, Math, Science and Social Studies. We also have a fully equipped Graphics studio complete with brand-new 27” I-Macs with full animation/graphics capabilities, Canon digital SLR cameras, Canon digital Video Cameras, large Format Printers, and Large Format Scanners.

Enrichment

Athletics: All Upper School students in grades 9-12 are offered a team, individual, and intramural sport each season. This includes Soccer, Basketball, Crew, Cross Country, Volleyball, Cheerleading, Golf, and Flag Football.

Electives: AIM is proud to offer a wide variety of electives that focus on the Fine Arts, Dramatic Arts, Performing Arts, Creative Literary Arts, Fitness, and more.

Organizations & Extra Curricular programs: We are also proud to provide extensive enrichment and extra-curricular opportunities. This includes Broadcasting Club, The AIM Quarterly Magazine, Literary Magazine, Choir, Drama, Musical, Student Government, Service Learning, and more.