ACADEMICS

Freedom Prep, one of the highest-performing charter schools in Memphis, fosters an environment in which students are held to very high standards and expectations to learn and succeed. But students are not alone. FPA students have a support system comprised of teachers, school leaders, social workers, psychologists and more who care about their holistic well-being and committed to seeing students succeed.

We have high academic and behavioral expectations for all of our students. Therefore, our academic program focuses on affording students numerous experiences that demand a collegiate level of excellence. Our academic program consists of six core subjects and additional enrichment courses, including technology (STEM), arts and music and more.

The curriculum at Freedom Prep is driven by clear performance standards for what students should know and be able to do. For each grade level, standards are based on national and state curriculum frameworks. Teachers will use regular assessments to measure how well students are mastering the standards, and how much they are personally improving.

Additionally, Freedom Prep takes care to provide curriculum that is relevant to our diverse student population. For example, our African-American history class provides educational insights into the African and African-American experience in America and abroad.

We use knowledge about students’ skills to shape whole class instruction, small group work and tutoring. Using individual student data, instruction can be targeted to better meet individual student needs. Teachers do not simply work to get through a textbook; rather, they assess student skills and deficiencies needed to target instruction appropriately. As such, we are able to address students’ personal academic needs and challenge them appropriately.

Teachers will provide students and parents/guardians ongoing feedback about student performance. Teachers will often send work home for parents/guardians to sign, and teachers will contact parents/guardians if they see a significant slip in academic performance or a special skill that needs extra practice at school and home. Grade reports and progress reports go out regularly. Parents/guardians may also receive informal feedback about student performance throughout the year. Parents/guardians are also free to contact teachers if they have questions about their child’s grades.

Every aspect of Freedom Prep’s curriculum and culture are mission-aligned – focused on college readiness. From the very first day of school, continuing throughout the year for every grade, each student is prepared for the academic demands of college entrance exams, the admissions process, as well, as college.

Fun Fact: 100% of the Classes of 2017 and 2018 were admitted to four-year colleges and universities! Our college preparatory program is working!