Frequently Asked Questions
What are expeditions?
Our students will go on academic and physical expeditions of learning. We believe students must learn outside the walls of the traditional school. Students will visit their community, job sites, businesses, lakes, forests, colleges, parks, mountains and museums to broaden their understanding of the world. Students will learn from real people, doing real work in the real world.
During these journeys, students use critical thinking, hands-on learning, journaling, observation, exploration, collaborative learning and strategic and scientific methods to truly get to understand their world. Using the Idaho Core Standards, academic work is rigorous, challenging and purposeful.
What is Project Based Learning?
Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge.
Learning must be purposeful and make a true difference in the community we live. For this reason, an authentic audience with community partnerships are paramount for all Project Based Learning (PBLs) at Northwest Expedition Academy.
What is Genius Hour?
Genius hour is a time of learning where students explore deeply their PBL and prepare for the exhibition of their work. This time is 2:15-3:15 for all students. The school will be buzzing during this time of learning
What is an exhibition?
Exhibitions are an opportunity for students to exhibit the learning they are doing. The audience for these exhibitions will be parents, teachers, students, and community members. Students will be evaluated on the authenticity of their project, the project's focus on making a positive difference in the community, the academic rigor of the project and the student’s ability to present the project.
Why will parent teacher conferences feel dramatically different at NExA?
At NExA, students are in charge of their learning, with purposeful nudging and encouragement from their teacher. We believe the best person to explain a child’s academic progress is the child. Therefore, the student will exhibit his/her work during the district's scheduled parent teacher conference.
What will the Advanced Learner Program look like?
ALP students will have an Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) developed by the ALP teacher, the student and the parent. In this plan, the student's special needs will be outlined, addressed and detailed. Students assigned to ALP will be students who perform in the top 5% of their grade using nationally normed assessments.
ALP students, grade 3-5, meet with the ALP teacher weekly to determine if the student is meeting his/her academic goals, to assess academic progress and to offer encouragement and support.
During genius hour, students in grades 3-5 will work on their projects with the ALP teacher in the ALP classroom. Students in this classroom will be expected and encouraged to perform in an academically rigorous manner and will be challenged to reach their full potential.
What is inclusion?
NExA believes that students learn best in their homeroom classroom, taught by a highly-trained teacher with specialized academic support pushed into the classroom learning. This means that students with special needs, students who have holes in their learning and students of exceptionality, will remain it their homeroom classroom for the majority of the day. The special education teacher will work with the IEP team to ensure that all student needs are being met.
There will be times when a child needs to be pulled out of the classroom to work on specific goals or progress monitor IEP goals, but this time will be minimal.
In the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), least restrictive environment (LRE) means that a student who has a disability should have the opportunity to be educated with nondisabled peers, to the greatest extent appropriate. IEP’s may need to be reviewed and amended to ensure each IEP is meeting this requirement.
NExA has a Life Skills program for students with varying disabilities. Students in this program will be included in the classroom. It is important for students with disabilities to be with their nondisabled peers and it is just as important for nondisabled peers to learn beside a student with a disability.
What are the school rules?
At NExA we believe that a large list of rules and regulations is difficult to remember, hard to teach and ineffective in positively changing a child’s behavior. For this reason, we have three rules at NExA-Be Kind, Work Hard, Be Safe. If a child is playing on the playground too roughly we ask, “Are you being safe? Are you being kind?” If a child is not putting forth his or her best effort in class we ask, “Are you working hard?” These three rules are taught to daily and will generally take care of most issues we see, everyday.
What does art look like?
Art will be purposeful and follow the guidelines of our expeditions. Students will learn to make paper for their journals, tan hide for their journal covers, create sketches of what they observe in the natural world, draw buildings and engineer bridges; the list goes on.
What does PE look like?
Students will learn to move and play in their natural environment.This will include urban trekking, fishing, rock climbing, skiing, snowshoeing, camping, team sports and individual sports.
Is NExA a private or charter school?
No. we are a public school in the Coeur d’Alene with a focus on Project Based Learning. We have a school zone and kids in this zone attend our school. Students outside our zone may apply for a transfer into our zone. These applications will be approved on a space-available basis.
