Education

We are reinventing education, one student at a time.

The time has come to revolutionize the way we teach. The world has changed dramatically, and it is time for schools to adapt. We believe that a large number of boys are not being effectively educated and we plan to make a difference in the following ways:

Experiential Learning

We believe that real world application gives concepts purpose and deeper understanding. Whether outdoors in nature, in the community, in our construction lab or drama room, we want our students learning by doing. There’s plenty of research that shows how active learning, especially in boys, creates more durable neural pathways over passive, traditional learning methods.

Personalized Natural Learning

North Point assesses each student through personality testing and skill assessment, in order to develop a learning plan that best suits them. We know that children do not learn all subjects at the same time, in the same way. North Point students will learn in a way and at a pace that comes naturally to them. There will be less focus on grade level groupings and more on individual progress. It is about finding the balance between learning that is too difficult so that a student gets frustrated or too easy so that a student gets bored. Constant assessment ensures that this balance is maintained. Internal standardized testing will ensure that students are able to meet or exceed the traditional grade/age progression. Outside the standard curriculum, we also encourage our boys to take concepts that interest them to the next level, as ultimately we want our students to own their learning. We want classrooms to be overflowing with ideas and questions to appeal to each child’s natural curiosity.

Socratic Teaching

Socratic teaching empowers students to analyse a topic, think for themselves, and express their opinions freely, while listening and respecting other points of view. We want students to be self-aware. Students will gather in small groups to discuss various topics. Whether it is current events, a moment in history, a book or play that has been read, students will learn to express their ideas in a safe, open environment. This process fosters critical thinking, self-confidence, language development and allows students to look for solutions through healthy, constructive debate. It is about giving students questions, not answers.

Mastery

Simply put, Mastery Learning is ensuring that a student has a complete understanding of a concept before moving on to a more complex concept. An incomplete understanding early on can have disastrous results later, especially in math. In the traditional classroom, there is not enough time to wait for each student to master each concept. In the North Point learning model, the use of technology and individualized guidance, allows a student to master a concept at their own pace. By achieving a complete understanding, students will feel good about themselves and their learning.

Community

At North Point, our boys will connect with the community. We don’t believe that schools should exist in isolation and our students will understand that they are part of a bigger world. Boys will visit different organizations and businesses in the area and a variety of speakers will come in to share their entrepreneurial and service experience. Our school will look for ways to give back to the community as a part of leadership development.

Applied & Integrated Technology

At North Point, laptops, tablets and Smart Boards will be integrated into the daily routine. Adaptive software and supportive teachers will accommodate different learning styles, getting away from the “one size fits all” approach to education. Some of the best instructors in the world will be brought into the classroom on-line. There are numerous educational games that will make the curriculum more interesting and relevant. We tap into the realm that can keep a boy engaged for an inordinate amount of time and through it can weave in learning themes, exercises and assignments. By extending our physical classrooms into the virtual world, learning can be fun.