TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Our Teaching Philosophy

Silicon Valley Academy proudly implements GLAD, or Guided Language Acquisition Design, as its official teaching model and is the only Islamic school in the nation to do so. GLAD provides the philosophy and methods we use to both teach academic subjects and manage student behavior. GLAD strategies help students better understand the subject matter at hand, which in turn promotes academic achievement. The GLAD method was field tested for almost a decade by the United States Department of Education, and has been declared by the Department as a model of "Academic Excellence."

Teachers use sketching, color-coding, pictures, chants, movement, media, and hands-on activities to encourage creative thinking and problem solving. Our classrooms are structured around participation, group sharing, and cooperative activities to build leadership skills for independent and lifelong learning.

For more information regarding the Project GLAD teaching model and Be GLAD trainings, please visit www.begladtraining.com.

Our Multi-level Classrooms

We offer multi-level classes in elementary school. When a student enrolls in kindergarten, for instance, he or she enters a KG/1st grade multi-level classroom where students learn science and social studies together, and break out into grade levels to learn math and reading. A two-year social studies and science unit rotation guarantees that students never repeat the same material covered the previous year.

Research shows that younger children gain self-confidence and maturity by being exposed to older students, while older students learn to be positive, mature role models for younger students.

Our Commitment to Each Student

At SVA, we create an individualized plan for every student because each child is unique.

GLAD strategies facilitate teaching at the highest level, and scaffolding for students not yet at that level. For a student who needs extra support, we provide it in the form of one-on-one teacher tutoring during a built-in, half-hour session before school begins, and for students who is well-versed in the material, we challenge them by providing advanced, on-topic work as appropriate. To make sure each student is reaching their highest potential, SVA places students in the math level that matches their abilities, allowing students to take a math class above or below their grade level.

Awards earned by the GLAD program model:

Project of Academic Excellence
U.S. Department of Education, OBEMLA

Exemplary Program
California Department of Education

Title I Achieving Schools Awards
National Title I Association

Model Reform Program
California School Reform Design

National Dissemination Model
Of Effective Training for Teachers in multilingual settings