Serendipity Academy – A Place for Students To Find Their Potential And Grow

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Maya Nelson and Whitney VanGorkom, Arborists in Training, identify trees at a field trip to McLane Creek.
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By Gail Wood

New CBM LogoThis is not your typical elementary school classroom.

Students are collecting water samples from the Deschutes River. Other students are working at a food bank.

But this is part of an educational experience at Serendipity Academy, a private Tumwater school for grades kindergarten to sixth grade. Learning isn’t limited to what can be taught in a classroom.

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Maya Nelson and Whitney VanGorkom, Arborists in Training, identify trees at a field trip to McLane Creek.

“We ask ourselves what expert can we go to in the community to help the kids learn?” said Emily Walsh, principal at Serendipity Academy.

Last year, first graders participated in a year long community service project at a food bank. Students in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade at Serendipity Academy helped in a water quality check of the Deschutes River for South Sound Green.

“They were collecting real data in the field and then that data goes to South Sound Green and they use it to analyze the water in the Deschutes River,” Walsh added.

It’s all part of the learning experience at Serendipity Academy. Field trips, expert guest speakers and purposeful assemblies are about learning. At Serendipity Academy, teachers go beyond the lecture.

This is one school that is not afraid to incorporate brain-based research to teach their students. To ensure fitness, mentally and physically, they use Bal-A-Vis-X, or Balance Auditory Visual eXercises using sandbags and racquetballs.

“It’s brain and body exercises that helps the student to have their body and their brain integrated for learning,” Walsh said.

Last year, students at Serendipity Academy, from kindergarten to sixth grade, took part in a unique online computer science class that is called Hour of Code. With over 15 million students participating worldwide during the week, it is considered to be the largest educational program. The online class was put on by code.org, a Seattle-based company.

“It was a great experience,” Walsh added.

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Kai Nichols and Kelsey Hickey create a project at Maker’s Faire.

To better understand how the Hour of Code program worked, Walsh did it herself.

Every student at her school, from kindergarten to sixth grade, earned a certificate of completion. It was an introduction to computer programing that might be the spark a student needs to go into that field.

“I think it was another outlet for them to see what they could do with their life,” Walsh said. “If this is something that you’re good at, then let’s expose you to it.”

At Serendipity Academy, an important component to success in the classroom is behavior. Cooperating, not being a classroom disruption, is part of the agreement between student and teacher. If a student is a disruption, a problem-solving meeting is set up between parent, child, teacher and administrator.

“We try to do our best to front load the kids on our expectations,” Walsh explained. “And we revisit them often. At the beginning of the year we talk about our school expectations.”

Those expectations are shared together with all the students at assemblies and then they’re shared with each individual classroom.

“And we revisit it often so discipline isn’t a problem,” Walsh said.

Walsh gets an occasional visit at the principal’s office with a student who was disruptive in the classroom – but not many.

“We still have our share of things that go on,” Walsh said. “But any school is going to have that.”

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Detective Liska visits Serendipity Academy to talk about his job as a police officer.

Education doesn’t just accidentally happen. It has to have a purpose, a mission. At Serendipity Academy, that mission is to ensure “each student’s success by providing an exceptional education and fostering an environment that promotes individual growth, a passion for learning and social responsibility.”

And at the core of that mission is a team of certified teachers committed to providing the best education possible.

Walsh said her teaching staff is dedicated to helping each student grow and learn, reaching their potential. It’s a place for the A-student to excel and for the struggling student to catch up.

“We meet them at their needs,” Walsh said.

Serendipity Academy is dedicated to helping students grow academically, encouraging them and challenging them.

To learn more about Serendipity Academy or to schedule a tour, click here.

 

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