ABOUT RISE
“Our goal is that all students will graduate with a plan for post-high school and the skills they need to achieve that plan.”
OUR MISSION
Rise will provide all of our students with a supportive school community based in relationships between staff, students, and families, in which all students receive a college preparatory education with clear pathways to pursue and achieve their life goals.
OUR VISION
We believe that all students have the right to an excellent education, regardless of race, gender, immigration status, religion, sexual orientation, language of origin, or disability. We acknowledge that schools have historically perpetuated systemic inequality, and we commit to actively building a school community that promotes equity and justice for all of our students and the communities they represent.
Every Rise student will have the opportunity to realize their potential and pursue a post-secondary college or career pathway of their choice. In their 6-12 years, students will be provided with a rigorous curriculum, early college experiences beginning in 9th grade, and the individualized support needed to make accelerated growth. We will work in partnership with our students, their families, and the community to create an engaging and inclusive learning environment in which all students can thrive.
OUR VALUES
1. COMMUNITY
We form meaningful relationships-building between students, families, and staff and work with our students and families to achieve their desired goals.
We establish respectful classroom and school environments where all students are safe to learn.
2. REACHING POTENTIAL
We know that all of us have the ability to learn, grow, and achieve our goals in life.
We provide the support that each student needs in order to be successful.
3. GROWTH
We are constant learners and continually strive to get better.
We learn through challenge, feedback, and working hard to improve.
4. INCLUSIVENESS
All students are entitled to access to rigorous education and early college opportunities.
We commit to teaching that is truthful, responsive to students, and valuing of students’ identities.
STATEMENT OF ANTI-RACISM & ACTION
WE STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH MANY ORGANIZATIONS WHO ARE COMMITTED TO ANTI-RACIST SCHOOLS.
"This moment of pain, grieving, and uprising against racism is the culmination of over 400 years of structural, physical and symbolic violence against Black people. Rise Academy and Prep stands in solidarity with Black & Brown communities, the Black Lives Matter movement, and everyone working to end police brutality and realize racial justice. We also recognize that statements of solidarity are not sufficient without action.
Teachers must play a critical role in disrupting racism. Teaching for racial justice includes anti-racist curriculum and pedagogy as well as advocating for school-wide anti racist practices that listen to, value, and advance the hope and needs of Black and Brown students, families, and teachers.
We believe teaching is an ethical and political act. Educational scholar, Paulo Freire, reminds us that there is no apolitical classroom; if we remain silent then we are complicit. We must do the work required to end racism: listen, learn, repair, take risks, and disrupt all the ways racism shows up in our lives, communities, and schools."
(https://www.southernct.edu/academics/curriculum-learning/statement-of-antiracism, 2020)