Aim High Institute
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, Apr. 13, 2009, 10:10 A.M. MST
New charter school offering Abacus Mental Math from K to 8
It took two years of planning, 250 pages of application, back-and-forth revisions, and even an official appeal with the Arizona State Board of Charter Schools, but it is now over, and the first charter school includes Abacus Mental Math in the math curriculum - Aim High Institute - is ready to open enrollment in Arizona!
Aim High Institute will open in July 2009 with grades K to 8. In order to maintain quality there will be a limit of 9 students per grade level. It is planned to add a grade a year in the next four years to become a K-12 college preparatory school. The founders are Ms. Tung, and Ms. Rueyin Chiou, whose IQ Abacus Math and Language school (an after-school tutoring center specializing in mental abacus) has produced many math competition winners.
Both founders have felt for many years that the existing state of education in the US, and in Arizona in particular, did not answer their needs for their own children. It is no help that Arizona often ranks bottom of the pile in various measures of the nation's state of education. They finally partnered together to create a program of education in the form of a K-12 charter school. Although Ms. Tung has previously worked with homeschooling and with private schools, the circumstances limited her ability to fully develop her ideals of a quality education. Ms. Chiou ran very successfully IQ Abacus for 5 years, yet she realized that an afterschool tutoring center had limitations. Its students often felt extremely frustrated and stumped because they were not allowed to apply the advanced skills acquired at IQ Abacus to regular math in their daily schools. There, they were still required to use time-consuming computation methods and solve repetitive and simple word problems. Drawing on their own previous educational experiences from other countries as well as their training, both founders combined their skills to design and establish a K-12 program of education with the following characteristics:
- An emphasis on STEMG, or Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Globalism. During her childhood and youth, Ms. Tung followed her diplomat father all over the world and is highly conscious of the importance of globalization especially in the 21st century. Ms. Chiou holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University and a M.S. from Rutgers University. She strongly believes in the use of technology to complement mathematics. The system of online tutorials, online exercises, and electronic reporting and management that was developed for IQ Abacus is one of the main components of its success. The students at Aim High Institute will not only take computer lessons weekly but they will also be constantly exposed to and integrate information technology in their learning, thus preparing them for the cutting edge in their future.
- Bilingualism in a critical language: AHI offers a critical second language to all students five times a week from K to 12. This will prepare them to become bilingual in English and a critical language by the time they graduate. Students will have a choice of either Chinese/Mandarin or Arabic. Language classes cover all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing; and will be aligned with the National Standards for Foreign Language Education. These are also known as the five C's: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparison and Communities.
- Quality education: AHI commits itself to select the best available curricula and methodologies wherever they may be found. AHI also constantly reviews new developments in brain neurophysiology, and apply them to the science of learning. For example, AHI will use the Spaced Learning method in selected subjects to enhance retention of facts. In Math, AHI combines mental abacus with Singapore Math. Although many parents see the value of mental abacus, some believe that their children will be unable to learn it well due to lack of practice time at home or inability to receive help from their parents. At AHI, this problem is solved! All practice will take place at school, with little need for parental input. Singapore students have repeatedly scored at the top of the world in the celebrated TIMSS (Trends in Mathematics and Science Study) in 1995, 1998, and 2003. In 2007, they ceded this rank to Taiwan and Hong Kong! It is believed that one of the main reasons for their success is their curriculum. Ms. Chiou has developed a program that combines these two components, thus producing a top curriculum. Children will be able to learn using this innovative program totally free of charge! Language arts in elementary school are based on the Spalding method. One only needs to glance at state results in AIMS to realize that most schools that use the Spalding system to teach language arts score at the top of the state in reading and writing. Both Ms. Tung and Ms. Chiou are Spalding trained and have experience in teaching it and building the entire English language curriculum around it.
- Character Education: It is a sad fact that comparatively little attention has been spent in the last few decades to character education. The resulting increase in incidences of delinquency, teen pregnancy, divorce, drug addiction and crime is well documented. AHI plans to bring back basic values of filial piety, respect to elders, manners and etiquette, and so on to our youth. Ms. Tung has developed over the past seven years a program entitled PAYD, or Pro-Active Youth Development. It is offered once a week at all grade levels and includes basic character values and manners in the lower elementary grades, to interpersonal relationships such as friendship and respect of parents in the middle elementary grades. In the late elementary and middle school years, the students explore their identity and psychological make-up so they will feel stronger as an individual. In high school, students go through a "marriage preparation" course that is based on anthropology, sociology and psychology as well as workshops on work ethics, parenting and other skills of value in their future life as adults.
AHI will only enroll 9 students per grade in its first year of operation for the sake of quality control. In the following years, growth will be carefully controlled so as to preserve school culture and quality. The ultimate goal is to reach no more than 24 students per grade. The school building is large enough to allow sub-letting to external entities who wish to offer various extra-curricular programs such as chess, sports, martial arts, fine arts, or any other subject matter. Thus, parents will not have to rush from one place to another after school. This is the ultimate one-stop education. Families will be able to enjoy more quality time together!
Pre-registration will start on Monday May 18, 2009 and close on Friday June 12, 2009. A public lottery drawing will be held at 3:00 pm on June 12. Students who win a seat will be notified. Acceptance and/or withdrawal of enrollment will take place between June 15 and June 22. If any vacancies remain after June 22, seats will be awarded on a first-come first-serve basis.
The Fall Semester will start on July 17, 2009. AHI operates on an extended year-round calendar in order to cater for both our high quality curriculum and align with AZ state standards.
For further information, visit www.aimhighinstitute.org, or email Ms. Chiou at [email protected].
Don't miss this unique opportunity to give your child the best education that incorporates traditional values with cutting edge educational programs in an American setting!