Our Values in Action: An Hour in the Life of Brightmont

It’s 11 a.m. on a Monday, and a new week is in full swing at Brightmont Academy. With a look around campus, it’s easy to spot students and teachers working diligently together, but there’s another critical force in play: Brightmont’s six core values. At every private school within the Brightmont network, the values of Student Care, Communication, Instruction, Outcomes, Leadership, and Culture are evident in every classroom.

Student Care: English with Eva

Eva is an eighth grader enrolled full-time with Brightmont Academy. Eva’s parents sought the services of Brightmont three years ago after Eva was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. At the heart of her English teacher’s approach today is Brightmont’s value of Student Care, which means we seek to understand the “whole” child and honor each individual’s interests, learning style, and personality.

For Eva, Student Care during English class is demonstrated through a very methodical and focused approach to her writing assignments, including a dependence on tools that honor the ways she learns best. Eva knows that one of the activities of the current unit is to write a five-paragraph essay. At the same time, her teacher realizes the importance of not introducing the steps of the writing process all at once, which may overwhelm Eva’s way of thinking. Since Eva is a visual learner, her teacher suggests the use of a graphic organizer to help brainstorm ideas for the essay. 

Communication: Social Studies with Sam

At a young age, Sam began traveling around the country as part of a professional dance crew. Because of Sam’s unusual schedule, his parents enrolled him in Brightmont’s Global Academy, which provides virtual one-to-one instruction.

Communication between teacher and student remains a key value in Brightmont’s online environments. To us, effective Communication means engaging in proactive, honest, and regular dialogue. We also encourage active listening and respecting the opinions of others. Sam’s Social Studies coursework features countless opportunities for his teacher to model good communication skills and for Sam to practice them too. Today, they are discussing the importance of connecting the past with the present. In addition to covering early American history and its impact on the country today, Sam and his teacher are sharing how they think history has affected their own lives.

Instruction: Science with Sonya

Sonya has always struggled to stay organized, and upon entering middle school, her disorganization led to poor grades. In her parents’ hunt for some kind of help, they learned about Brightmont’s part-time services and enrolled Sonya in Science.

Sonya now knows the benefits of Brightmont’s attention to individualized, comprehensive, and engaging Instruction. With Instruction as a key value, her teacher not only helps Sonya set clear learning goals, but also implements strategies that address her challenges in executive functioning. For example, during today’s science experiment, attention to detail and good organization are emphasized all the way through: from set-up to conducting the experiment to documenting results to clean-up. It’s also apparent that “pace” is an important term at Brightmont; Sonya’s teacher pays keen attention to Sonya’s progress and adjusts pacing to ensure mastery of the subject matter.

Outcomes: Homework Studio with Henry

Homework was a constant source of tension between Henry and his parents before enrolling in Brightmont’s full-time high school. Henry, a 10th grader, is now able to complete most of his assignments during a supervised study lab called Homework Studio.

The Homework Studio staff partners with Henry’s other teachers in helping him achieve desired Outcomes, another Brightmont value. An assignment tracker, as well as access to all of Henry’s coursework, enables Homework Studio staff to support Henry’s continuous improvement, which involves knowing lesson objectives, setting and communicating personal goals, then measuring and reporting progress toward those goals.

One of Henry’s assignments during Homework Studio today is to complete a standardized STAR Assessment to gauge his aptitude in reading. Henry’s performance on the assessment will indicate if he meets, exceeds, or falls shy of grade-level benchmarks. Whatever the outcome, Brightmont is ready to customize Henry’s workload to meet his specific needs and help pave the way to his academic success.

Leadership: AP Statistics with Mia

Mia represents another category of Brightmont students: gifted and twice-exceptional (2E). Since 9th grade, Mia has attended Brightmont to take advanced placement courses not offered at her small suburban high school. Now as a 12th grader, she is also taking a college and career prep class under the supervision of Brightmont staff; the course is helping Mia discern her next steps after graduation and complete all of the necessary college application materials.

Brightmont values Leadership among its staff and students. This means setting high expectations for performance and employing best practices of educational excellence. This is evident today in Mia’s AP Statistics class where she and her teacher are reviewing Mia’s plan for a statistical study. Mia takes meticulous notes to fulfill the course’s requirement for detailed student documentation. Of course, she will also use her notes to fine-tune her plan. Every student at Brightmont is expected to demonstrate at least an 80 percent mastery in all subjects, and Mia is determined to perform well beyond that expectation.   

Culture: Pizza Party!

At the close of the hour, the Brightmont value of Culture continues to shine brightly. At Brightmont, culture means maintaining a focus on learning and believing every student can succeed. It is clear that every teacher made sure of that this morning in their classrooms, but fostering school community is also a priority here.

In the spirit of school community, staff and students gather for a pizza party every third Monday of the month. Students have the chance to interact with each other, and staff enjoy getting to know more about their students’ lives outside of Brightmont. As a result, every student feels welcome, nurtured, and respected on all fronts—from the time they enter the building, throughout their academic activities, and at special events like this one. It’s the Brightmont difference—and just another reason why the students look forward to coming back tomorrow.