School Philosophy

The Academy offers unique vocational programs that are designed to not only strengthen a student’s general technical skills, but also to empower the student with new knowledge and experiences that can open otherwise locked doors in his/her future.

The Academy’s primary educational mission is to empower the learner with new knowledge and insight into a particular subject matter, so job tasks can be learned and completed efficiently. Factors such as homogeneous groups, comfort of the student, class size, state-of-the-art equipment, hands-on application, relevant examples & exercises, and even access to a telephone are careful considerations.

We believe that learning is a truly active process, and that different people learn in different ways. Therefore, we have developed an educational philosophy, which provides an active environment that allows for different learning styles. Our educational philosophy focuses on promoting Active Learning. Active learning helps prepare our students to be self-directed, lifelong learners - an ability they will all need in a society where individuals change jobs frequently, and job requirements rapidly change to meet changes in industry.

In our Active Learning environment, we provide opportunities for our students to talk & listen, read, write, and reflect as they approach curriculum content through problem solving exercises, informal small groups, simulations, case studies, role-playing, and any other activities, which effectively apply the subject matter. Our students learn best by doing.

The primary goal of our instructors, as classroom facilitators, is to ensure that the learner is prepared to continue on their own We expect every student who leaves our classroom to leave not only with new knowledge and skills, but also to have an awareness of where to go and what to do to continue learning on their own.

For each of our courses, there is a presentation, which the instructor uses to help guide the students through the concepts. Each student is provided a copy of the presentation and is able to take notes and use the material as a self-paced reference on their own. In addition, students are also provided access to computer-based tutorials, which the student can use for review and reinforcement of instructor-led classroom training, and for reference and review purposes after graduation.

The Academy’s academic programs are structured as progressive milestones, each leading to higher levels of technical skills. This design allows students to effectively reach their personal level of competence with skills documented by the school. At each milestone, students elect to continue to the next milestone, transfer to an external program with advanced standing, or seek employment. When they seek employment, they do so with new skills, documented by the school, which will increase their employability.

It is important to note, that at every step in the delivery of the curriculum (and the students’ path within it), both faculty & students are guided by principles of Love and Logic in which four major areas of direct consideration are applied:

The Academy’s approach to curriculum delivery is to offer an all-inclusive learning environment where audiovisual aids, electronic presentation, course materials, reference texts, self-paced tutorials, hands-on projects, portfolio learning, and instructor competence are integrated into a well designed, high quality educational delivery system

Teaching With Love & Logic: Jay Fay & David Funk; The Love & Logic Press, Inc.; Golden, Co. 1995.