The Map Room by Franz Xaver Wolf (Austrian Artist), little known about this artist, ca. 20th century, oil on canvas.

Rose Academy is delighted to offer an Autumn Test Prep Course held for eighth grade students in North County San Diego, California. This course provides a foundation preparing students for standardized testing they will encounter along their academic journey. Specifically for this course, the focus will be on preparing for the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) and High School Placement Test (HSPT) which are required for admission and placement into private high schools. These exams are held at the end of January.

As standardized exams play a role in admission to competitive academic programs, the aim of this course is to energize students in rigorous exercises to equip them with efficient strategies and effective practice to perform well. The topic of standardized testing typically elicits groans or boredom from even a dedicated middle school student, thus, it is Rose Academy's task to transform that perception.

Achievement of high scores will assist students in outstanding vocational opportunities and achieving dreams. Supporting the development of their mental game, endurance and focus, under testing conditions to build their intelligence is of equal importance.

In class, students are tasked with employing test strategies while practicing test questions. Students’ goals will be to improve their scores in mathematics, quantitative and verbal reasoning, and reading comprehension. Students will gain a read on their scores as they complete full practice tests.

Class is structured around independent or team exercises. This allows students to advance by their individual ability and motivation. Students' test answers are graded for precise feedback and part of the exercise is to return to correct mistakes before moving on to subsequent exercises.

Rose Academy is delighted to offer a Spring Business Course held for eighth grade students in North County San Diego, California. This course endeavors to be a launchpad for inspiring an entrepreneurial, innovative spirit within students and advancing the Rose Academy mission to develop student’s hearts and minds in academic excellence and Christian service.

The first half of the semester will be learning foundational knowledge and conducting research. Students will develop note taking, research, and writing skills. The subsequent half of the semester students will dive into a planning and development phase. They will produce their own product or service during class time. The products may involve building prototypes with a hot glue gun and materials otherwise relegated to your home’s recycling bin. The service produced will follow the prompt: “How to ___” which means they are tasked to teach someone how to do something they know how to do. Due to their age, the service will take the form of a written guide or recorded video tutorial. The nature of producing intellectual property will be fruitful - building their confidence and engaging a drive to innovate.

Our primary textbook is The Business Book, published by DK’s Big Ideas Simply Explained series. We will spend time reading and watching the stories of people and business, past and present, who have achieved extraordinary things in a spectrum of industries. Students’ goals will be discovering inspiration through their growth in foundational business knowledge and research and gain experience through trial and error as they develop their own business ideas. It is my overall educational approach to find ways to optimally allow students to advance by their individual ability and motivation. To achieve this, customization of what they develop in class aligned with their interests is considered.

Mid-semester update:

The students spent the first half of the spring semester gathering inspiring stories of business enterprise and invention, presented to their peers their writing, worked within the DK Business textbook learning business concepts, participated in a business development simulation, and explored points of development as a soon-to-be rising high school freshman to build a trajectory for success here and beyond. They are also busy incubating their ideas. Now, at the start of April, we begin their own individual business research and development phase. It will be a highly creative time and a time where I place some guardrails down to optimally guide them.

Students will complete a written (digital) guide, workbook, or book they may sell. If they select a guide, they are teaching someone something they may already know how to do relatively well. With additional research, time, and thought, they will polish something and cross-check their steps to achieve the desired outcome. The guide follows the script “How to x”. For example, How to Make Homemade Playdough. Once this is polished and if done with time before the end of semester deadline, they may proceed to make an accompanying video regarding their guide, workbook, or book. The guide, workbook, or book will be written and include visual examples to capture their audience. These visuals may be drawings and/or photographs. We are also utilizing technology to support building their products. Their product is individual, no partnerships, for the purpose that their intellectual property is 100% their own.