Seeing Ourselves/Seeing the City: An Expedition into 9th Grade

At the Science Leadership Academy, we understand that the transition into High School can be a difficult one. We are pleased to offer a one-week Summer Institute this August, to ease that transition and allow our students and faculty to begin forging bonds together as a learning community – before the “hard work” of the classroom begins.

Led by faculty and upper-class students, this one-week orientation will have two goals, the first is to begin the process of bringing them into the unique, diverse SLA community. To that end, students will spend part of the time in their Advisory Groups, getting to know the students and teachers that will be a part of their community from their first day at SLA through graduation and beyond.

Second, the week will be built around our philosophy of student-driven, hands-on, project-based learning. We want to introduce our students to SLA’s core values of Inquiry, Research, Collaboration,Presentation, and Reflection from the start, and get them acclimated to the high expectations we have for their high school careers. Using The Franklin Institute and other Philadelphia sites as their “classroom,” students will begin working to explore a variety of questions and problems relating to their surroundings and their place within it. Our students will practice the art of “seeing in new ways” as it relates to the process of observation, analysis, and interpretation.

During Summer Institute, students will work to ultimately create a collaborative project to present to their classmates, while, at the same time, establishing positive relationships and a sense of themselves as first-year SLA students. It will be an exciting, enriching, and energizing way to gear up for the year.

See you in August!

P.S. If you have any general questions about the school year, please refer to our Family Night Packet.