Blog
Productive Struggle to Build Resilience
One common theme amongst school-aged children, especially in a post-pandemic world, are a lack of motivation, discipline, and resilience. However you look at it, the world has changed, leaving all kinds of industries to change with it. This includes elementary […]
Chronic Absenteeism Unrelated to Illness
“Chronic absenteeism occurs at every grade level but is more prevalent in some grades than others. Research suggests that students in the early elementary grades also experience high rates of chronic absenteeism. Understanding when students are most at risk will […]
School Safety GIA’s #1 Concern
GIA Family –
Can you walk into your scholar’s school without being challenged? If you can, we see an urgent problem that needs attention.
Whether we’re spending your Summer months enjoying vacations, activities as a family, or relaxing at home, I’d like […]
Tech Safety & The Parent’s Role
The op-ed this blog draws from, linked below, comes from a 6-8th grade middle school assistant principal, about what he encounters everyday with his students and the significant lack of accountability from the parents of those students. The main point […]
The Story of GIA
The original scholars of the GIA building who promoted 8th grade, at that time called The Odyssey Preparatory Academy, graduated high school last year, in 2020. In recognition, we thought we’d take a look back at the origins of GIA […]
Hands-On Learning at GIA (Part Two: Examples)
Earlier this month, we wrote about hands-on learning and what that means for school-aged children. This week, we want to give examples of what GIA has been doing to support hands-on learning for both our scholars and our teachers, as […]
Hands-On Learning at GIA (Part One: What it is and Why it’s important)
It’s no secret that working with your hands can boost stimulation to your brain. No group needs this type of stimulation more than adolescent elementary and middle schoolers. Goodwin University has said, “Children in all stages, from preschool age through […]
Importance of Reading Proficiency by 3rd Grade: Part One
“The relative decline of American education is untenable for our economy, unsustainable for our democracy, and unacceptable for our children, and we cannot afford to let it continue.”
– Barack Obama, 2009
“All skills begin with […]
Black History Month
Happy February!
Today marks the start of Black History Month. We welcome almost any occasion that leads us to examine our past. Some people feel that Black History Month shouldn’t exist because its very existence leads to further racial angst. We […]
GIA’s Shining Moments from 2020 (yes, those happened!)
2020 has been quite a year, but one thing rings true – GIA rocks! We want to take this time to recognize some of the Grande accomplishments that have happened in 2020, all made possible by our incredible staff, parents, […]
Benefits of Tradition and Gratitude
As Thanksgiving quickly approaches (when did it become November?), we are reminded of family traditions, time spent with loved ones, and what we are grateful for. It’s no secret that this year has been one for the history books, so […]
Love & Logic
If you’re in the GIA community, you may have heard the term “Love and Logic” used around campus or in communications about the school. In this post, we’ll explain exactly what Love and Logic means, how it’s used in different […]
Tips for Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent-teacher conferences are on the horizon for GIA parents beginning on October 28th. Before arriving for a conference with you scholar’s teacher, it’s important that you are prepared for a conversation about your scholar’s needs in and out of the […]
Arizona Summative Testing
What is summative testing, you ask? Arizona, like most states, participates in statewide standardized testing which takes place in the spring in public schools. In Arizona, the test is called AZMerit […]
Social-Emotional Learning: Part Three
As we dive into the third and final post in our series on Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), let’s recap what we’ve discussed so far. On the surface, “emotional intelligence” can seem like a fluff term, but underneath the title is […]
Social-Emotional Learning: Part Two
Last week, we talked about Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), what it is, and how this strategy of learning will be integral in shaping a generation. In part two of three blog posts, we’ll discuss the benefits of how parents and teachers […]
Social-Emotional Learning: Part One
It’s no secret that early-aged children are faced with increasing levels of anxiety. The reasons for this are broad and constantly evolving. To tackle all of them would turn a blog post into a dissertation. Instead, in this three-part blog […]
Parents Resources at GIA
Welcome. If you’re a GIA parent, you’re in the right place! As we kick off a new school year and get our scholars comfortable and excited about the year ahead, we think it’s important to provide parents with resources to […]
What is Ask2Learn?
Part of GIA’s mission is to provide a highly innovative experience for its scholars and teachers. To achieve this, GIA has done research and remained up-to-date on the latest technology to maximize learning. One of these resources is Ask2Learn. Ask2Learn […]
Student Success During a Pandemic: Online Schooling
Just six months ago, the phrase “online schooling” was reserved for a very small percentage of school-aged students. There are many reasons a parent could have chosen online schooling for their child, pre-coronavirus. Now, online schooling is the first (and […]
Student Success During a Pandemic
We can all agree that these are… wait for it… *unprecedented times.* But how can we agree to transition our students back into school life? Working professionals (likely the person reading this) had to make adjustments to their work/life schedules […]
Owls Start School-Year Soaring
It’s been an exciting start to the 2019-20 school year after a productive summer of hard work at Grande Innovation Academy (GIA). This included capital projects such as a large canopy providing much needed shade to scholars playing […]
Family Screen Time
Family Screen Time
Studies have shown that excessive media use can lead to learning and attention problems, lack of sleep and obesity. Families are spending more time on screens than ever before: phones, tablets, video games, computer games, computers at […]
