Life & Learning at LEAD

Academics at LEAD is an intricate system; every subject and skill plays an important role!

We take a literacy and numeracy first approach—all subjects are taught with reading comprehension and mathematical thinking at the center–while embracing multilingualism.

The cornerstone to our academic program is deliberate practice, this builds strong fundamentals that enable your learner to make connections between new and prior knowledge. Specifically they deliberately practice:

• reading complex texts
• writing thoughtful analyses
• analyzing mathematical problems

stretching their mind from:

• basic understanding to the creation of new ideas
• from thinking about our local community to thinking about our global community

When young people receive explicit instruction followed by quality practice of their skills, they become masters of their abilities and can later do higher-order thinking. This is the bedrock of our academic programming.

Stepping into the role of a changemaker requires young people to apply their learning from all subjects. At LEAD, this transdisciplinary time is the focus of humanities and STEM.

Here, learners are dedicated toward addressing a community challenge.  To guide these impact projects, we use an explicit approach called DEEDS (Discover, Examine, Engineer, Do, and Share).

While continuing to master their academic standards, they also impact the community by building solutions like these:

• building rain gardens to reduce flooding
• starting and operating a “re-use club” to make art from discarded materials
• creating sustainable energy solutions to reduce reliance on fossil fuels

This real-world application provides young people with the practice they need to eventually wield power, economically thrive, and shape their world as adults.

Changemakers live at the intersection of their knowledge, skills, and passions. Cultivating the arts creates a balance between work and community engagement with self-expression and self-understanding.

At LEAD, these experiences include:

• Dance
• Digital and Fine Arts
• Music
• Theatre / Performance
• Fashion Design

Feeling balanced, purposeful, and fulfilled allows us to show up as our best selves and achieve greater heights.

At LEAD, we uphold the importance of personal development, which is why we engage in daily mental and physical wellness practices led by learners, such as:

• meditation and mindfulness
• group circles to develop trust, deepen relationships, and explore critical moments in our growth/development
• badge work designed around self-understanding
• passion activities (e.g. tennis, soccer, flag football, dance, art, interest-based clubs etc.)

Exposing young people to high-earning careers is important as we build a bridge to generational success.

That’s why we developed Micro-Apprenticeships—6-8 weeks partnerships between small groups of LEAD students (3rd-6th grade) and industry professionals.

Learners work on a real client project and gain resume skills under the guidance of their career mentor.

Past Micro-Apprenticeships include:

• Graphic Design: Learners worked with a Graphic Designer to create a printed tri-fold menu and logo for the local deli
• Culinary: Learners worked with a Chef to develop new sandwich recipes for the local deli
• Environmentalist: Learners worked with the NY Department of Environmental Conservation to teach the community about the importance of the wildlife at Mill Pond Park
• Structural Fabricator: worked with an expert from Concorde Education to create prosthetic arm prototypes using a 3D printer

Oh, and learners get paid, too! We assist in creating custodial bank accounts and provide meaningful lessons on financial literacy, including the importance of earning, banking, and saving money.

To ensure that all learners are set up for success, we supply useful resources to LEAD students, such as:

• Backpacks
• Books (for at-home reading)
• Notebooks
• Pencils
• Laptops or tablets (for in-school use)