Washington Square Academy’s roots go back many years. Founder Jenny Ho started Study Hall to support Brookline students after school and during summer breaks. From a living room table, Jenny’s academic endeavor began with just a handful of students and an educational philosophy rooted in supporting students to ‘learn without limits’. Study Hall Brookline evolved into WSA quite honestly by necessity. In the late winter of 2020, our model pivoted to a ‘learning pod’, and Washington Square Academy was born. During our years as Study Hall, we recognized the effectiveness of teaching students above their grade level in smaller groups. For our subjects rooted in humanities we use a combination of both a Montessori style approach *and* rigorous curriculum where students (for example) learn to create post-secondary style research papers and engage in student driven literary discussions that rival undergraduate humanities courses. WSA's math and sciences are rooted in Chinese educational philosophy/ pedagogy and the content is two or more grades *above* state standards. As a result of our approach to education, WSA students are able to ‘learn without limits’ across subject areas. Although our core content is decidedly rigorous, Washington Square Academy students represent a variety of learners . WSA students include those who have historically excelled in one subject while struggling in others, students who are learning at a pace that eclipses their peers, students who are on 504’s and IEP’s, students who have a lot of extra energy and students who are more reserved. As educators, it is our responsibility to provide the space, curriculum and support for each student to discover, learn, and grow. The WSA approach gets results. Our educational team's standards of excellence and effectiveness, supported by individual student outcomes, have provided the impetus for us to grow into the school we are today. As educators, we believe that a student's needs always come first, that each students’ learning potential is limitless, and all of our students will leave WSA as ‘life-long learners’ - that means exceptional education, giving back to the community, individual support, robust rigor, and dynamic classroom engagement.
