Beginning this year with fifth and sixth grade (and seventh eighth grades coming next year and the year after), BA’s deeply intentional approach to whole-child responsive-classroom education will support scholars and their families through a period that, for many, can sometimes feel quite stressful.
“As seasoned parents can attest, middle school is a time when the dynamics of parent-child relationships undergo an important transition. New relationships with friends, peers, and other adults as role models develop, and a healthy space between children and their parents emerges,” said President Jerome Reyes, the school’s co-founder. ”Notwithstanding a certain level of discomfort that comes with any change, this natural movement toward independence often coincides with a turning point for learners, in either a positive or negative direction.
“As a Compassionate School and through our nXu advisory model, BA’s middle school experience has been purposefully crafted to help our tweens and teens thrive in five key developmental areas—purpose, identity, social-emotional wellness, social capital, and career exploration. Here’s to creating high achieving, well balanced, lifelong learners,” said Reyes.
“Butler Academy has been a saving grace to my family,” said Sara Warren, a parent with two children in BA’s middle school. “One of my children struggles with schoolwork but grew by leaps and bounds last year. My other child struggled fiercely with another scholar, but the school’s restorative approach to the situation led both children into a new friendship. Butler Academy has the secret sauce! While many parents with children entering middle school are nervous,” Warren added, “I didn’t feel that way because I knew where my kids would be and who they would be with.”
The only tuition-free public charter school in Darlington County, Butler Academy opened in 2020 with kindergarten through fourth grade and will continue to add one grade each year until our network is complete with three schools (lower, middle, upper) and a total enrollment of 552 scholars. With students from 13 area communities, during the 2022-2023 academic year, Butler Academy’s two schools are serving 288 scholars in kindergarten through sixth grade.
BA’s mission is to create an enthusiastic culture of learning in which every student is expected and positioned to succeed academically. To achieve its mission, BA has adopted a Compassionate School model, a system first piloted in Washington State in 2008. The model supports an expanded definition of student success that includes social, emotional and academic components. Compassionate Schools benefit all students who attend but focus on students chronically exposed to stress, trauma, and adverse childhood experiences. Through small class sizes, professional development, and the implementation of policies that are both compassionate and restorative, BA’s continual goal is to keep scholars engaged and learning by creating and supporting a healthy climate and culture within the school. The school’s year-round calendar aligns with this model by keeping scholars more frequently connected to their learning community.
“In addition to the amazing privilege this year’s expansion represents to faculty and staff to serve more scholars and families, our middle school also represents an opportunity for more community involvement,” said Reyes. “Building this joyful community of learning would not have happened without a great deal of support from our friends and neighbors – individuals and organizations to whom we are enormously grateful. In fact, we are planning a community-wide celebration next year to formally recognize and thank the individuals and organizations who help make our growth possible.”
To learn more about current opportunities to join the BA family as a volunteer or donor, visit www.butleracademy.us or contact Barb Chappell, vice president of development, at chappell@butleracademy.us or (843) 309-9604.
