Aims and Guiding Principles

Mission

Lake View Academy aims, in an atmosphere defined by Christian faith, to provide a vital alternative for young people whose needs are not being met by other high school opportunities and whose talents are in danger of being wasted. Oriented both to theoretical knowledge and to skills, the Academy aims, by its small size and low student-faculty ratio, to give each student an individualized educational experience and full opportunity to explore career options. At the same time it aims to create and nourish a caring sense of community and social responsibility.

Supportive and caring, flexible and creative, considerate and respectful, nourishing hopes which have waned and kindling new hopes for the future - all these Lake View Academy seeks to be and to do.

Goals

1. Educate young people who would not be receiving a standard high school education if they were not in our school. Improve their academic skills, teach them certain practical life skills, and encourage good health habits.

2. Graduate these young people with an accredited diploma.

3. Nurture love of learning, pride in academic excellence, intellectual curiosity , and desire to learn about the larger world in every student.

4. Bring the message of Christ's hope to our students and their families.

5. Maintain this school as a safe place for all - socially, psychologically, and physically. Create a warm, supportive community that starts in the school and church we are located in, and extends beyond staff and students to their families and the larger community.

6. Maintain the ethnic and social diversity of the Academy as a means of helping students to set aside racial, ethnic, social and gang differences and get along with others. Teach and model appropriate conflict resolution skills.

7. Strengthen the ability to form positive relationships in the larger society, including institutions like schools and churches. 

8. Restore hope to young people who have lost it - especially those who have lost it in connection with high school-related problems. (In other words, we are most concerned with restoring hope to those who had fairly normal elementary school experiences, and seem to have lost it somewhere along the way in high school.)

9. Assist students in learning how to set realistically high goals for themselves - academic, vocational, and personal; achieve those goals, and then set new ones.

10. Build character: integrity, honesty, respect for self and others, kindness, diligence, perseverance, initiative, responsibility, etc.

11. Build "social" skills: ability to work well with others; ability to deal with authority (regardless of who has it); ability to fit in appropriately in new or unfamiliar situations; ability to present oneself in a positive manner appropriate to the occasion, including appearance, body language, and speech; ability to stand in front of a group and speak articulately and with poise.

12. By doing all of the above, prepare our students to continue to learn, grow, and contribute to the larger community after they leave our school.

13. Prepare our graduates to obtain further education and/or technical training after high school.

14. Have every Lake View Academy graduate working at a job that is meaningful to him/her and that is suitable for his/her interests and talents by the time s/he has been out of our school for a few years. (Enough time to have knocked around a bit and gotten the necessary education for the right career.)

15. Prepare our graduates to be good, responsible, and loving parents to their children, and to act sensibly and with integrity in their personal relationships.

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