ACADEMICS
2019-20 focused on enhanced instruction and new opportunities to learn The school year rolled in with a new focus on defining what quality instruction looks like in Lipscomb Academy’s classrooms. Through a partnership with the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) and its CEO Dr. Candice McQueen, academy leaders were equipped with a researched observation rubric to identify effective teacher performance in three domains of teachingplanning, instruction and environment. NIET continues to work with the academy to provide coaching tools and resources, online observation and scoring administration support, professional learning community (PLC) information and execution, and a mentor-teacher model for teacher growth and retention purposes. 17
The upper school launched a new schedule that includes a Freshmen Seminar course, double class periods for writing and labs, and flex periods for collaborative work. The new schedule closely aligns with Lipscomb University’s class schedule to more easily accommodate students in dual enrollment classes. The lower school’s gifted program, which challenges students to think deeply and abstractly about reading texts and to enhance their thinking and problem-solving abilities in mathematics, entered its second year in 2019-20 with a boosted enrollment. This program, unique among local peer schools, replaces the regular grade-level curriculum with accelerated and enriched instruction at an appropriately challenged level.
