The schedule of a student-athlete can be hectic, demanding, and at times overwhelming. BASS Private School aims at helping students find balance so they excel both academically and athletically. With that being said, BASS Private School was designed for families who are athletically inclined.
Families who fit best at BASS include the following:
- Looking for a focused social environment
- Need alternative schedules to accommodate athletic goals (i.e. training during the day)
- Students who need more physical & emotional development
- A love for fitness, and athletic performance
- Looking for a challenging school experience
- Those wanting smaller class sizes, with like minded peers
- Student-athletes who need a year of academic support before high school
Personal Philosophical Statement
The human brain has an endless capacity to learn and retain information, and children are the vehicles with which knowledge is passed on from one generation to the next. I emphatically believe in the life long pursuit of knowledge, and the monumental positive impact that learning bestows upon a child. I am drawn to education because I believe that children are the future and these grown-ups in training need guidance, encouragement, and constant support throughout their educational experience so that they develop a love of learning into adulthood.
The classic perception of learning is that it is set in a classroom with textbooks and delivered through teacher driven instruction. However, pedagogical shifts bring innovative ideas and emphasis on student engagement over passive learning. I see all learners as curious observers eagerly awaiting the opportunity to have hands-on interaction with their world, which also extends to their education. In this thought process, I believe that children are most successful and engaged as active participants in their learning; while the teacher functions as the coach, guiding and modeling for students along the way to achieve greater personal success and understanding.
In selecting our textbooks and literary resources for our students, I consider two important philosophical concepts: (1) how will this work relate to our students and address their needs and (2) how are these works relevant in terms of diversity and depth of world awareness. From that starting point, all resources will be evaluated for their effectiveness and depth. We identify if those works will assist in achieving our goals and objectives throughout each academic year.
I love teaching and thoroughly enjoy creating content that reaches students. The educational process should be dynamic and flexible because life is constantly adapting and changing. Our collective human history helps shape who we are, but it is our children who will benefit the most by learning from the mistakes and failures and our successes. It is important for students to identify cause and effect and how out of mistakes/failures, positive outcomes are possible and new ideas can flourish.
Methodology
The core Methodology of BASS Education is embedding Accountability, Discipline and Correct Effort into all of our academic and strength and conditioning curriculum. We believe a strong emphasis on these intangible qualities results in tangible success in the classroom. Studies show that through accountability, self-discipline, and correct effort, students achieve greater successes in academics and athletics (Dweck, 2007; Duckworth, 2016). Students learn to take ownership of their actions and responsibilities, which is measured through their gradual growth and development over the course of our Program.
A major objective of BASS Education is establishing the highest expectations for student-athletes and allowing failure as opportunities for growth. When students are no longer challenged in their learning they risk becoming complacent, missing out on opportunities for new levels of accomplishment. As educators, it is our moral and ethical responsibility to set those expectations for all students. This is valuable as it encourages ALL students to continuously set and reach for high goals, regardless of the failures or setbacks that occur during the process.
A major objective of BASS Education is establishing the highest expectations for student-athletes and allowing them to safely fail in the process. It is only in that failure that real growth as a student-athlete and individual will occur. When students are complacent in their learning, they are no longer challenged, and resist the need to push themselves to the next level. As educators, it is our moral and ethical responsibility to set those expectations for all students. This is valuable as it will serve to harness student-athlete potential and encourage ALL students to reach those expectations regardless of the failures that occur in the process.
Differentiated Learning
How a student learns and retains information can be different from one peer to the next. We welcome and happily embrace the fact that education is not a one size fits all for our student-athletes. Understanding that dynamic heavily influences BASS educators as we strive to ensure all student-athletes are learning and comprehending the content. To achieve that goal, BASS educators integrate differentiated learning or instruction in their planning and delivery of the content, monitoring student engagement and understanding throughout the lessons, and within our informal and formal assessments. What that means is that our educators provide our diverse body of student-athletes with all avenues of learning. Students typically fall under four different modes of learners: visual learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners, and reading and writing learners. Some students need more emphasis on auditory and visual instruction while others need emphasis on kinesthetic. BASS educators work diligently to know and understand our student-athletes’ strengths and weaknesses. This allows our educators to identify what our student-athletes need to support and guide their academic and physical development. An integral component for effective and meaningful learning is to provide students a clear path to comprehension and mastery. At BASS, we utilize a variety of strategies and tools to help our student-athletes grow as independent learners who own their educational growth.
Cross Curricular Approach and Interdisciplinary Collaboration
One of the unique aspects of our Program is the cross curricular approach we have implemented and the interdisciplinary collaboration that occurs between our educators. The development and integration of cross curricular teaching requires that all teachers be on board, and in such, work collaboratively to foster deeper student learning (Johnson, 2013). The interdisciplinary team building not only strengthens and supports our educators, but also assists students in connecting the broader themes found within the content and applying it to their lives in a meaningful and authentic manner.
Education has evolved into an umbrella where each content specific subject functions independently from the others. Although this presents students with trained and knowledgeable educators, the issue becomes that students do not identify how all the subjects are interconnected. As a result, students are left with an incomplete understanding of how their world overlaps and connects. When students are presented with life struggles and challenges, they will use their prior knowledge and understanding to create solutions or attempt to identify the next course of action. Implementing cross curricular teaching within the disciplines facilitates deeper thinking and real world application as students continue to grow and develop. The goals and motivations for implementing a cross curricular approach are to prepare student-athletes to be multifaceted individuals equipped with knowledge and skill sets to be productive members of society.