TNAA Model
Sixty Students and Four Teachers
Our cutting edge classroom structure was developed at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This model allows for a team of four instructors, led by a Master Teacher, to plan and teach together. This ensures that novice teachers are always supported by a Master Teacher and that lesson plans are always vetted. Moreover, the variety of skills and perspectives within each team enriches every student’s educational experience.
Teaching Teams
Working together within one classroom, each team has the tools and support they need to become masters of their craft. Teachers spend at least ninety minutes each day working together on lesson plans, classroom management, pedagogy, and reflection. This continuous teacher development ensures that our students receive the highest level of instruction.
Our four-step career ladder (Apprentice, Associate, Partner, Master) professionalizes teaching, with a pay scale that ranges from $50,000 to $120,000, plus benefits. By offering competitive salaries, we attract the best and brightest to the classroom. On average, our teachers will make 38% more than comparative NYC DOE teachers. Promotion is based on comprehensive review of pedagogy, not just teaching scores or seniority.
Collaborative Learning and Leadership
Our students learn from an early age to explore the world around them through collaborative inquiry and an interdisciplinary curriculum, which emphasizes small group activity and peer-to-peer learning. By problem solving as a team, students learn the value of confidence, voice, critical thinking, self-awareness, and communication. This gives them the skills they need to succeed in the world—and change it.
Differentiated Instruction
With four teachers and multiple learning centers in each classroom, students can be grouped with an unprecedented degree of differentiation. This level of targeted instruction ensures that every child maximizes his or her potential.
Six-Year Learning Loops
Students loop with the same teachers and classmates throughout elementary school. This means that classroom relationships can strengthen and grow over time, and teachers have a personal history with each student. Looping also eliminates the many hours teachers spend at the beginning of each year getting to know their students and familiarizing them with their systems and structures. Furthermore, teaching kindergarten through fifth grade gives teachers a holistic understanding of elementary education and allows them to target instruction accordingly.
Reflective Practice
Refection is the key to improvement. We reflect as a community, as teams, and as individuals to improve our practice. In addition to the daily ninety minutes of conference time each day, every team has one and a half hours each week dedicated to group reflection.
Trilingual
Exposure to Spanish and French begins in Kindergarten, with a goal of fluency in all three languages by fifth grade.
