The mission of our school is to provide a safe hands-on learner centered environment that cultivates excellence, offers challenges, and embraces lifelong learning for all students. Parents and students are attracted to APA because the school is treated like a sacred place that has a culture which communicates high expectations for student success. Foremost, given appropriate educational opportunit
ies, all children, regardless of background, can achieve high academic standards. APA uses a variety of approaches to create a culture
supporting school-wide achievement positive behavior programs stressing social skills, emotional learning, conflict resolution, cultural understanding and individualized attention. Our uniform dress code is also required as a way to create a positive, productive learning environment. Administrators and teachers feel responsible for student learning. Teachers receive a substantial degree of curricular and instructional freedom in exchange for high expectations regarding effective classroom practice and student performance. Teaching and learning are focused on real- life situations, as far as possible, so our students understand the relevance of information to their everyday lives. Teaching and learning throughout the school includes mental, practical, written, and computer-based elements which encourage our students to become problem solvers and to develop inquiring minds. All lessons are differentiated to meet the needs of each student and a variety of activities are chosen to reinforce concepts and 21st Century skills (communication, innovation, collaboration, and presentation). APA enriches the curriculum to build students’ background knowledge through field trips and extracurricular activities. Our students’ travel includes educational opportunities in Galveston, Texas, the United States, and abroad. An extended day makes it possible for APA to offer extracurricular classes which include: Spanish, robotics, piano, choir, chess, basketball, volleyball, dance, cheerleading, technology, Boy Scouts, and Girl Scouts. Tennis, yoga, and golf are required through daily physical education classes. A parent liaison is employed by the school to bridge the relationship between home and school to increase students’ social, emotional and academic success. Two major programs coordinated through parent involvement include: “I Care” Character Building Program and Incredible Years sponsored by Galveston Sustainable Communities Alliance and Family Service Center of Galveston. Parents offer strong support for their children’s academic achievement through actions such as assisting with homework, checking on progress, assisting the school, communicating regularly with teachers, and
supporting extra-curricular activities. Regular parenting classes are also offered through our unique parenting program. Significant community connections have been major factors contributing to the on-going success of APA. First and foremost, we have dedicated leaders in our community that have made it possible for us to have a facility and educational programs that are reinforced with technology and offer educational field trips for our students. APA has consistently received high academic and financial ratings from the Texas Education Agency. Our community, committed educators, involved parents, and students are all active participants in this success rate. Please come and join the APA Team!
