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More than...
The Impact Academy is more than childcare and a school. The Team is more than teachers, administrators, and directors. Children are more than students. Families are more than caretakers. The community is more than businesses and entities. We believe that people are dynamic and are more than the title given. We believe we are best when we see all of a person and allow them to fully be themselves. We also believe we are best when we expect more than the status quo. Expectation must be met with equipping and empowerment. If we want more than the bare minimum, we must give more than the bare minimum. The Impact Academy believes in giving all we can, doing all we can, and being all we can, because we are more than…
Pursuing Progress...
Students develop at different stages. Families have varying degrees of ability. Our goal is not to push anyone to become something they are not. We do not believe in forcing skills. We believe in pursuing progress. We will encourage children, families, and the TIA team to move forward as we journey with each other in holistic development.
Independence empowers...
We believe children are very capable. We want to empower them to do all they can. This is lived out by allowing them to try. Teachers will guide them along the way while empowering children to accomplish tasks within their developmental abilities. We aim to let them have boundaried choices, freelance experiences, and challenges that build their self confidence. Children who are allowed to explore their abilities are more likely to succeed in those abilities.
We are not a religious preschool
The Impact Academy is an entity of Word Tabernacle Church but it does not function as Word Tabernacle Church. Our model is developed to reach all students and families. We have opted out of being a religious school for a few reasons.
We want to be a space where all families feel comfortable regardless of religious affiliation. We emphasis educational function to ensure an inclusive environment for all students, staff, and families.
We also want to ensure access to the program to all families. There are many families in our region who rely on social support through the state's voucher system, early childhood tax credits, and other things. These programs cannot be utilized at religious preschools.
Standard compliance: The governing entities and organizations that oversee childcare centers have rating scales. We work to abide by the highest rating scales for them so we use the state approved curriculums based on their expert standards.
Being a Christian is not a mandate for employees. Individuals have their own journeys of faith. We did not want to force people who are not Christians to teach content with which they disagree and we believe faith-based education should be taught by those who have faith-based conviction for the content.
We believe families are the primary mode of discipleship and ministries and church involvement are an amazing supplement to Christian education. After studying many Christian preschool programs, we believe the percentage of time spent on religious content is beneficial, but not so much as to disregard the first four points above. The preschool does not reject faith, we simply don't set aside a specific time to teach it. Instead, we encourage families and churches to take on that task as instructed in Scripture.
Philosophy of Employee Pay
We modeled our philosophy of pay through partnership with the North Carolina Early Childhood Compensation Collaborative. We studied the Model Salary Scale for Early Education Lead Teachers and developed our program around it.
Children’s earliest experiences are built into their bodies—shaping the brain’s architecture and creating the foundation for future learning. The interactions they have with their early childhood teachers play an essential role in determining how their brains are wired. To build strong brains and support children’s optimal development, early childhood teachers need specialized knowledge and skills.
Compensation is an integral component of attracting and retaining the high-quality early learning workforce needed to prepare children for success. A salary scale tied to education can serve as critical tool to professionalize the early childhood teaching workforce.
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