Neighborhood Celebration: Check out Bolton Academy

We continue our look at the participating schools in APS’ inaugural Neighborhood Celebration with Bolton Academy. Principal Laura Strickling was kind enough to tell us how the school participate in the celebration, which starts at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, and the school’s “points of pride.” Principal Strickling takes it away, after the jump …

We hope to have at least 25 Bolton Academy families represented at the Celebration. For the “Parade of Schools,” Bolton students will be dressed in their “school spirit” wear (khakis and a Bolton Academy T-shirt), as they proudly sing the Bolton Academy school song. The lyrics of the song include the following:

Bolton Academy, home of the Owls/ Soaring to new heights, we are not just any fowl/ We love reading, writing, science, math the arts and history/ Bolton Academy is a great place to be/ Bolton Academy, we surpass the rest/ Giving honor, celebrating, passing all our tests/ We pledge to make a difference, a better world you see/ Bolton Academy is a great place to be.

This originally composed song embodies the spirit of the school and truly highlights the values we hold dear and work to instill in our students. In addition, we plan to highlight the school’s academic programs and special events during the “Trade Show” portion of the cluster celebration. Specifically, we plan to showcase a PowerPoint presentation, the school brochure and various paraphernalia will be on display for sale to the public.

Bolton Academy’s “points of pride” are its diverse student population and its academic program. Special events organized by the school’s PTA (e.g.  Bingo Night, Spaghetti Dinner Night and Fall Festival) help to foster a sense of community and family at Bolton Academy. As an International Baccalaureate candidate school, our students participate in daily foreign language instruction in Spanish from kindergarten to fifth grade. Children learn through a program of inquiry and have access to content that fosters exploration, hands-on learning and global thinking.

The school’s media center offers opportunities to read quality literature, participate in the Accelerated Reader program and conduct instructional research. Students also benefit from using Promethean Board technology in our Thin Client Lab, Math Lab and Science Lab. In addition, students participate in support classes that address the interests and varying needs of children including art, general music, physical education, technology, strings and band.

Ultimately, the focus at Bolton Academy is to present children with an instructional program that provides engaging learning tasks and develops students’ ability to think critically and understand content from a global perspective.