Hope Academy Inc.

THE ORGANIZATION OPERATES A K-12 SCHOOL IN URBAN MINNEAPOLIS WHICH PROVIDES A CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN EDUCATION, WITH A GOAL OF FOSTERING HOPE IN GOD WITHIN THE INNER-CITY NEIGHBORHOODS OF MINNEAPOLIS BY PROVIDING YOUTH WITH A REMARKABLE GOD-CENTERED EDUCATION.

To unleash kingdom citizens who work for justice, economic opportunity, racial harmony, hope for the

Goal One: Increase access to a remarkable, faith-based education for urban youth (K-12) by investing in additional space and resources and serving more students and their families each year.

Goal Two: Provide the resources, training, and support to continue increasing staff satisfaction, capacity, diversity, and excellence in serving urban youth and their families.

Goal Three: Expand vocational training opportunities, mentoring, and support for K-12 students and graduates, and further enhance services to help strengthen urban families.

With extensive support from Great Minnesota Schools, Hope Academy is developing a clear, standards-based K-12 curriculum roadmap for teachers; implementing new curricula that will further align classroom instruction with support intervention; enhancing evaluation efforts; and focusing more resources on instructional leadership, assessments, and teacher support—to help narrow the achievement gap and prepare all students for success from kindergarten through graduation. Over the past 18 months, Hope Academy’s Instructional Leadership Team has continued to receive extensive coaching and support from the Achievement Network (ANet), Great Minnesota Schools, and other educational experts to help advance this work for urban youth.

During 2021-2022, we learned to pivot quickly in response to staffing shortages, busing challenges, student quarantines, and other challenges created by COVID-19; and to meet the increased needs of our students and families at Hope Academy. We were grateful to serve hundreds of youth K-12, primarily in-person, and to continue providing above-and-beyond support to help children heal from trauma and thrive. Students were daily impacted by caring staff, challenging academics and a structured learning environment, and enjoyed new, advanced opportunities in areas such as technology, the trades, and the arts. Staff continued to equip and support families through conferences, home visits, family ministry, and personal check-ins. A remarkable 98% of parents completed their parent-teacher conferences!   This school year, teachers and staff are continuing to work hard to meet the higher academic, social/emotional, and spiritual needs of students—which have been significantly impacted by the disruptions of the past few years. We’re implementing a new K-5 math curriculum to help strengthen instruction for younger students, and increasing academic support to help children adjust to the new material. Throughout the year, approximately two thirds of our students will also receive extra academic, English, social, and emotional/ behavioral services outside of the classroom—to heal from trauma and overcome other barriers to success. Across K-12, students are being challenged by rigorous academics and high expectations, and enjoying enriching opportunities in music, athletics, and the arts. Teachers are developing more hands-on activities to help students see and experience God’s love in their lives; and we’re providing mentor groups, service trips, and other faith- and team-building activities for students. We’ve also launched new high school electives in technology, business, teaching, and healthcare—to help more students develop a clear vision for life and potential careers.