Why us?

There are many reasons as to why HSA Mckinley Park is an effective learning community, a great place to be for a student, parents, and an educator. Below are the 10 reasons to attend HSA Mckinley Park:

 

1- Small and Safe School

The size of our school, which is small by design, allows us to personalize education, build sustainable relationships with our students and parents, and focus on each student.

We strategically build a strong sense of community where each member is valued. Our students develop a sense of belonging and pride HSA Mckinley Park. This quality of our school also provides a physically and emotionally safe environment to our students.

2- College Preparatory for All

Beginning from very early grades we prepare all of our students for college by creating a learning environment of high expectations and standards. All of our students are exposed to a rigorous curriculum through which our students gain the skills and knowledge to be successful in high school, college, and beyond.

3- Focus on Math, Science, and Technology

Our students spend more time studying math, science, and technology. They are better prepared for the competitive global world.  We teach all other classes such as language arts, social studies, art, foreign language, and physical education as well.  It is just that our students spend more time on math, science, and technology than most traditional public schools.

4- Higher Standards and Expectations

Both academic and behavioral standards and expectations are higher in our schools. Graduation requirements, discipline and promotion policies, homework policies all reflect our high standards and expectations. While expectations and standards are higher, we support our students through a comprehensive support system to ensure success for all. This comprehensive support system includes but not limited to before and after school tutoring, peer tutoring, Saturday schools, summer and winter programs, and pull out program.  Our students thrive in such environment where expectations are high but a comprehensive support system is available to them at the same time.

5- Knowledgeable and Skilled Staff

We hire staff members who have incredible content knowledge, dedicated, hard working, and willing to go beyond their call of duty to help our students succeed. Our teachers are skilled to build strong and sustainable relationships with our students and parents and leverage such relationships for academic achievement.

6- Online Access to Classroom Records

We give our parents and students online access to classroom records. Our parents are able to see current grades, assignments, homework, missing work, attendance, tardiness, and discipline records online by using their passwords given to them by the school on the Internet. We make our computer labs available to our parents and students if they do not have access to the Internet otherwise.

7- Data driven Instruction

We assess learning of our students on an ongoing basis, every six to nine weeks, to determine how much they learn. Our teachers then analyze the assessment results to develop specific strategies to ensure that all students attain mastery level on what they learn. Our teachers use the assessment data to guide their instruction as well as to place students in the appropriate academic support program.  Our parents have online access to such assessment data too in order to see their child’s progress throughout the school year.

8- Increased Student Engagement

Although we are a small school by design, we provide many opportunities beyond academics to our students to keep them engaged in the school. Our students have after school clubs, special interest groups, sports programs, and school wide events that they can participate based on their interests. We also provide engagement opportunities that students may not have otherwise such as local, national, and international trips, cultural exchange programs, summer and winter camps.  Such innovative and attractive opportunities improve our students’ attitude towards school and make our school an environment that everyone looks forward to coming to.

9- Increased Parent-School Relations

Strong and sustainable relationship with our parents is a major component of our school design. We organize programs that are specifically designed for parents such as Honor Roll Parent Dinner, Parent University, parent picnics and more. We have an active Parent Teacher Organization that works with the school administration to improve our school. Our school has frequent parent teacher conferences, four times a year.  Our parents are able to participate in local, national, and international trips that we organize too. We also visit our parents in their homes to share our vision for the school and to show our commitment to their children’s education.

10- Community Partnership

We partner with local universities, community based organizations, and other businesses in our community to create further opportunities to our students.  Such partnership allows our students to improve their skills that are necessary to be successful in such a competitive global world.