It is my pleasure to introduce you to Lionsgate Academy, an extraordinary and cutting-edge, transitions-oriented charter school, specifically designed for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. In our third year of operation, we are simultaneously grateful for how much we have learned already and conscientious of how far we still want to go. As we have transitioned from a great idea to a fully-functioning secondary school, certain lessons have become clear. Most particularly, our initial goal was to create a school that was data-driven, research-oriented and based on proven best practices. We quickly discovered that to create and operate the innovative school we had envisioned, we would need to develop strategies and techniques on our own; the data and curriculums we were hoping to utilize were, as it turns out, in short supply. In other words, we found that we needed to develop our own best practices based on our own research and data. This has led to us hiring significant numbers of new staff members whom we have chosen to train in-house. Many of our staff came to us with great potential and have become wonderful employees through our extensive training programs and through working with our unique student body. After two years of hard work, we feel we are well on our way to accomplishing our goals.
We have developed Lionsgate Academy around four core principles: Transparency, Collaboration, Realistic Expectations and Balance.
Collaboration. Working together with our staff, students and families is a key part of keeping our school running smoothly. Many schools talk about working collaboratively with families and students; we do it!
Transparency. We are committed to being honest and open about our operations, processes, and decisions and we always strive to give prompt, clear explanations for any of our decisions.
Realistic Expectations. Although we believe our school is the best choice for many students with ASD, we are also realistic about where we are at on our journey. We cannot be everything for everyone but we work to excel at what we are.
Balance. This refers to the difficult task of balancing the needs of our organization, students and staff. We know that in order to be an effective educational institution, the delicate job of creating balance must be a priority.
In summary, Lionsgate Academy is growing into a school that has already produced positive and unique results for our students and their families. As a new organization, we have found the following concepts to be fundamental to the Lionsgate culture and we continue to bear these in mind as we continue the maturation process:
1. Monitor and adjust on all levels of the organization.
2. We must look beyond ‘What is happening?’ And we must work to understand ‘Why this is happening.’
Thank you for your interest in our school. We hope you will take some time to get to know us better and appreciate the work we have done and will continue to do.
Sincerely,
Stan Hacker
Executive Director
