OUR APPROACH
As parents and educators we asked: What is our vision for the children of Nashville? Together, how do we prepare culturally competent future leaders? If we could create our dream school, what would it look like?
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In response to hundreds of conversations with Nashville families about priorities for a free, public school for their children, Aventura Community School's academic program is built on the following four pillars:ā
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Bilingual Education, Purposeful Academics, Global Competence, Committed Community
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Click the images below for a quick introduction to each pillar, and scroll down to learn more.
In a dual language program native English speakers and global language speakers spend the whole day together, working to develop high levels of academic achievement and literacy in both languages in the domains of reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
A rich and rigorous project based learning curriculum provides daily opportunities for purposeful, meaningful work. Students build confidence and independence as they direct their own learning.
We examine issues of local, global, and cultural significance; understand and appreciate the perspectives of others; engage in appropriate and effective interactions across cultures; and take action for collective wellbeing and sustainable development.
Children benefit from attending schools that reflect the diversity of their communities. Aventura faculty, students, and families leverage our diverse stories and perspectives as we learn, work, and play together.
Bilingual Education
Multilingual individuals enjoy a clear advantage in the community and the workplace. Learning more than one language provides many cognitive benefits including cognitive flexibility, enhanced listening skills and memory, and greater creativity and divergent thinking in complex problem solving.
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For global language speakers (often referred to as English learners), research demonstrates the superiority of bilingual instructional methods in promoting not only long-term English acquisition and academic achievement, but also multicultural understanding and multilingualism, all of which are important goals in our increasingly multicultural, interconnected global society.
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Aventura employs a rigorous 80-20 immersion model, found to be the most effective for both language acquisition and academic achievement for students of diverse linguistic backgrounds. Sample distribution of academic subjects taught in each language by grade level can be found in the table below.
Purposeful Academics
Aventura empowers students to be active directors of their learning experience through a rich and rigorous project-based learning (PBL) curriculum. Purposeful multidisciplinary projects inspired by the school, local, and global communities inspire standards-based learning activities in all grades. Academic learning is coupled with productive school culture, social emotional learning, and the development of 21st-Century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration. The project-based program at ACS incorporates the Gold Standard Project Design Elements and Teaching Practices shown below.
Global Competence
Aventura Community School is a whole-hearted learning environment where rigorous academic inquiry is balanced with a focus on students’ physical health, social and emotional wellbeing, connectedness with their community, and commitment to steward the health of the planet.
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The Global Competence Framework was developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for their Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The four domains of this framework include:
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Examine issues of local, global, and cultural significance
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Understand and appreciate the perspectives and world views of others
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Engage in open, appropriate, and effective interactions across cultures
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Take action for collective well-being and sustainable development
Aventura integrates the Global Competence Framework into the daily life of the school as the foundation and guide for both the project-based learning program and community engagement approach.
Committed Community
Children benefit from learning in schools that reflect the diversity of their communities and provide opportunities for diverse perspectives to shape their understanding of the world. Aventura's learning community is racially, socioeconomically, culturally, and linguistically diverse due to the school's location in Southeast Nashville and the welcoming school culture.
The culture of respect and excellence that characterizes ACS students’ learning environment is a natural extension of the professional culture cultivated for and by ACS faculty. Community partnerships support the project-based learning program, and the work of Aventura students has a positive impact on the surrounding community. For families, ACS provides opportunities to engage in cross-cultural interactions as all community members learn, work, and play together.
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Aventura's holistic vision for community wellness, broadened definition of success, and focus on developing global competence ensure that Aventura and greater Nashville offer a welcoming community for all.
DAILY SCHEDULEā
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A typical school day at Aventura begins at 8:00 and dismisses at 3:30 Monday-Thursday and at 2:30 on Fridays. The school day is characterized by two longer work cycles in which students work on interdisciplinary projects with the support of their two classroom teachers. The morning work cycle focuses on projects and literacy in English and Spanish, and the afternoon work cycle focuses on mathematics. Students enjoy daily enrichment classes (PE, Art, STEM) and social-emotional lessons. All classes benefit from two recess periods each day allowing for ample unstructured play time.