At Social Justice Humanitas Academy, we treat each of our students as individuals, teaching to their diverse learning needs. We prepare all students to get to and through college in an effort to increase their social and political capital. Our curriculum combines the lessons from the past with the skills and Habits of Mind necessary to be stewards of the future.

Our focus is not a single career pathway; rather it is college access for all. Our goal for students is not for them to merely be doctors, teachers, or lawyers, but rather to be doctors, teachers, or lawyers that change the world. By infusing social justice into our curriculum, pedagogy, and relationships, we will empower our students with the self-efficacy to fight for social justice for themselves and become stewards of their own communities.

The Social Justice Humanitas Academy’s Habits of Mind

By the time our students leave us, they will have mastered these habits of mind, which are critical to thier self-actualization:

1. Evidence: Your opinion is made stronger when supported with evidence. It is not enough to question authority you must also speak with it.
2. Perseverance: Never giving up. Defining your goals and sticking to them.
3. Thinking about Thinking: Being aware of how you learn best and being reflective about your actions.
4. Questioning and Problem Posing: Being curious about your world and unwilling to merely accept what you are told.
5. Creating, Imagining, and Innovating: Feeling free and confident to find new ways of thinking. Knowing that being original is normal.
6. Gathering Data Through all Senses: Being aware of and open to the world around you.
7. Interdependence: Collaboration that is rooted in respect for others.
8. Service: The desire to imagine and create a more just world.
9. Applying past knowledge to new situations: use what you learn.
10. Empathize: understand rather than judge

These are the values that all adults on our campus will uphold as they model the benefits of lifelong learning, academic optimism, compassion and self-efficacy.

Academic Support & Intervention

It is important to us at Humanitas that all students receive the support they need to reach their potential. Our intervention systems are designed to understand why a student is struggling and provide opportunities for additional support, while continuing to hold students accountable to high expectations.

Office Hours

Every teacher is available to students for extra support at least one hour a week after school. Office hours are from 3:35pm-4:35pm, Monday-Thursday. Students may attend any teacher’s office hours, though teachers may assign students to specific office hours based on student need.

Students attending office hours are will sign in and set goals at the start of the period. At the end of office hours, students will evaluate how much progress was made toward achieving these goals and submit this reflection to the teacher.

Stamps

SJHA staff use a red stamp system to communicate when students are required to attend office hours. The stamps are as follows:

• BEHAVIOR – This stamp is used when students violate school rules or policies, including our tardy policy
• NO LANYARD – Students are required to wear a lanyard at all time and receive a stamp for not wearing it
• NO NOTE – Our office may issue these stamps to students who have not provided verification for absences
• TEACHER/Incomplete Assignments – Teachers give red stamps for incomplete or missing assignments

Academic Probation

Students who earn less than a 2.0 grade point average are assigned Academic Probation (AP) for the next grading period. AP includes mandatory attendance of office hours each week. This targeted help is an opportunity for students to receive extra teacher assistance, peer tutoring, and time to complete assignments in a supportive environment.