For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.
-The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Excel's greatest strengths are our strong school culture, rigorous academic program, quality teaching staff and professional culture. By establishing a strong choice-based behavioral management system, promoting joy in learning and creating a team-based atmosphere, we have built a culture in which students internalize the value of education and the importance of good character. By focusing on the need to simultaneously reinforce basic skills while developing higher-order thinking, our academic program meets the needs of our student population and helps them achieve at the highest levels. Our teachers and staff provide high-quality instruction and support and are talented, committed individuals who are dedicated to their personal and collective advancement. Teachers and staff challenge one another, collaborate, hold one another accountable, provide support and inspiration and assume leadership roles. The result is a highly functional team that strives for constant improvement and excellence.
Extended School Day:
Excel operates on an extended, nearly eight-hour school day and an extended school year. This results in over 300 additional hours of instruction each school year, or 45 more days of learning.
With an extended school day to maximize time in the classroom, our core academic schedule goes from 8:00 a.m. to 3:40 p.m. and consists of four key components:
Core: Students take 400 minutes of mathematics and 400 minutes of English each week to ensure that they master core skills and content necessary for success in high school and college.
Connections: Social studies and science are half-year courses. Students take 400 minutes of science or social studies each week to gain core skills in the scientific method, geography and history and to explore questions that relate to their communities but that also possess more global significance.
Focus: Students receive targeted tutoring and academic support focused on individual needs throughout the week. During Focus, the majority of students are working independently to complete the next day's homework. Teachers provide students support in areas of difficulty, answer individual questions, and assist with homework assignments. Teachers also pull individual students for tutoring during this time. Focus provides an ideal setting for peer tutoring where older students with greater expertise in a particular subject or topic volunteer to assist younger students who may be struggling.
Enrichment: On Friday afternoons, students receive formal instruction in enrichment activities such as art, yoga, lacrosse, African drumming, Hip Hop dance, and cooking.
These four components result in a remarkable academic experience for our students and a dynamic professional environment for our staff. In every classroom, teachers are presenting rigorous lessons and students are rising to the challenge.
Furthermore, Excel has implemented a range of extended day programs and supports that run Monday – Thursday until 5:00pm. Literacy, Homework Club, Mandatory and Voluntary Academic Support Center, clubs such as Debate and Model Union, and athletics are a sampling of our after-school activities. Approximately 75% of the student body participates in an extended-day offering on a daily basis.
Homework Club
Homework Club, which takes place Monday through Thursday from 3:40-4:30pm, is a quiet, constructive place where students complete missed or incomplete assignments, and then begin the successful completion of their next evening's homework assignments. During Homework Club, academic support is provided by Excel Academy staff members. The goals of Homework Club include increasing homework completion rates, improving homework quality, helping students achieve mastery of academic objectives, and building academic confidence.
Academic Tutoring
All core subject teachers at Excel provide weekly tutoring in their respective subject areas. These tutoring sessions, scheduled carefully so as to not conflict with other student commitments, are held from 2:55-3:40pm Monday through Thursday. Teachers invite specific students to attend these tutoring sessions, based on quantitative analysis of individual academic weaknesses. Other students may request tutoring invitations from their teachers, which may be granted depending of space availability and the anticipated tutoring topics.
Saturday Academy
Saturday Academy, an intensive math tutoring program that seeks to ensure students have the basic skills needed to be successful in Excel Academy's math classes, is held at Excel Academy – East Boston from 9:00am-12:00pm on Saturday mornings. There are six four-week Saturday Academy sessions held throughout the school year. Excel's staff determine the Saturday Academy roster for each session based on quantitative performance on math assessments. All selected students receive a phone call in addition to written notification.
Friday Enrichment
Excel Academy's program focuses relentlessly on the development of core academic skills. However, in order to best prepare our student body for future pursuits, students must also be exposed to extracurricular activities on a regular basis.
Every Friday afternoon, from 12:00-1:30pm, the school will offer Enrichment activities for all students. Students will sign up for a specific Enrichment activity at the beginning of each season (i.e. fall, winter, and spring). While some activities will be taught by Excel Academy staff members, most activities will be taught by external instructors. Students who earn a PREP Report score lower than 70 are not eligible to participate in Enrichment during that respective week and instead will spend that time in Friday Extension reflecting on the choices they made that week.
