Small and Safe School
The size of our school, which is small by design, allows us to personalize education, build sustainable relationships with our students and parents, and focus on each student. We strategically build a strong sense of community where each member is valued. Our students develop a sense of belonging and pride being at the Minnesota Math and Science Academy. This quality of our school also provides a physically and emotionally safe environment to our students.
College Preparatory for All
MMSA is a college-preparatory school that was created to prepare our students for higher education.
Focus on Math, Science, and Technology
What is STEM education? STEM education at MMSA aims to integrate all four Science, Technology, Engineering and Math disciplines for use in real-life applications. Project-based learning and problem-solving are often big focuses.
Higher Standards and the "Right Expectations"
Standards and expectations at MMSA refer to the level of expected performance held by the key adults in our school for our students. Student success in school is facilitated when parents and teachers clearly state their expectations for student performance, set specific goals and standards for desired behavior and performance, discuss expectations with youth, emphasize children's effort when completing tasks and ensure youth understand the consequences for not meeting expectations.
Knowledgeable and Skilled Staff
"More can be done to improve education by improving the effectiveness of teachers than by any other single factor." Paul Wright, Sandra Horn, and William Sanders
An effective teacher at MMSA not only helps students realize their goals, but monitors the progress of all of our students so they can reach their true potential. An effective MMSA teacher also employs effective instructional strategies to help students increase their knowledge of a subject. Students who have highly skilled teachers employing effective instructional strategies will reach higher levels of expected achievement. Simply put, the single greatest influence on student achievement is the classroom teacher.
Data Driven Instruction
Data Driven Instruction is a comprehensive look at student assessment data. With the support of MMSA leaders, teachers analyze student assessment data, including daily common assessments, interim assessments, and end-of-year assessments, to help them plan for future instruction. The goal of data driven instruction is to collaboratively analyze the effectiveness of instruction on student performance to improve student achievement. The emphasis of analyzing student assessment data is to help improve instructional practices to lead students to realize higher achievement gains.
Increased Student Engagement
As MMSA aims to help students recover academically and emotionally from learning disruptions due to the pandemic, we will give more weight to students’ experiences and perspectives when making instructional and programming decisions. There’s no magic formula to guarantee student engagement, but using various approaches at MMSA — such as supportive student-teacher relationships, equitable instructional practices, engaging lessons, and the alignment of decisions with students’ needs and aspirations — can help improve students’ learning experiences.
Increased Parent-School Relations
Parent engagement at MMSA is defined as parents and school staff working together to support and improve the learning, development and health of children and adolescents. Parent engagement at MMSA is a shared responsibility in which our school is committed to reaching out to engage parents in meaningful ways, and parents are committed to actively supporting their children’s and adolescents’ learning and development.
Community Partnership
Family-school-community partnerships are a shared responsibility and reciprocal process here at MMSA. Our school and community organizations make efforts to listen to parents, support them, and ensure that they have the tools to be active partners in their children’s school experience. The partnerships we have with our community are essential for helping our students achieve at their maximum potential.
