Ellie Hall Samford Academy
ACADEMICS
& CURRICULUM
Our Curricular Mission
At Ellie Hall Samford Academy, we spark curiosity, foster humanity, and educate reality. For our 1-12 students, we provide a uniquely advanced approach to primary and secondary education that formatively embraces and develops every aspect of each student, in a non-traditional, balanced educational experience.
Common Core Foundation
At EHSA, our curriculum has been carefully developed understanding the developments, examples, and standards of other nations, most importantly the United States. We thus use the Common Core State Standards as a baseline for our curriculum. These, however, are only the minimum standards to which we aspire. Our own unique selection of courses and activities provides a comprehensive and holistic resource for students to engage in their learning deeply, and personally, while in a supportive community environment defined by collaboration and discussion.
Our program stresses Language Arts and Mathematics as the primary, fundamental disciplines, with a balanced and liberal approach including Social Studies, Natural Sciences, Humanities, and Interdisciplinary Courses.
Three Core Values of EHSA Curriculum:
Mindfulness
When learning, our students first must understand the value of others. Education is a communal experience, and students do not learn in a vacuum. The most important asset for any student is his or her peer, and the respectful dialogue that grows between them. Difference of opinion is encouraged, and the ability to empathize, and understand another’s experience, or argument, is the foremost quality EHSA cultivates in its students.
Spontaneity
Children encapsulate the spontaneity that we, as adults, miss. This is the pure form of discovery that we encourage at EHSA. Play, exploration, and adventure are the foundations of a student’s educational experience, both in and out of the classroom. Our students are constantly urged to think radically, to innovate, and to use a concept, memory, or idea in a novel way and share it with others.
Courage
At EHSA, our students are not only learning, but building themselves to be advocates and warriors to advance society through their knowledge. This takes courage. Our curriculum emphasizes the difficulty of learning, of applying that understanding to our real world, and of assigning a decision that will affect others. From their youngest years, students must be brave in forging their own path.