National Heritage Academies, Inc. (NHA) is a for-profit charter school management organization headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[1] It was formed in 1995 by entrepreneur J.C. Huizenga.
As of 2010, National Heritage Academies is a collection of 67 charter schools in the eight states: Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, New York, North Carolina, Colorado, Georgia, and Louisiana. The nationwide network of schools are classified as free open enrollment K-8 college preparatory public schools mostly in under-resourced communities throughout the United States. There is a separate company, PrepNet (http://www.prepnetschools.com/), which operates a network of college preparatory high schools.
Contents |
The schools operate on four pillars: academic excellence, moral focus, parental partnership and student responsibility.
To encourage academic excellence, teachers are held to very high standards. Three times a year, each student takes a computerized adaptive test published by the Northwest Evaluation Association. Students are generally tested in reading, language arts, and math. Some schools choose to also test in science. For example, 4th and 7th grade students at Windemere Park Charter Academy of Lansing, Michigan take the science test in the fall and spring. RIT scores are produced at the conclusion of each student's test. Teachers use these score to inform instruction, provide support based upon academic ability, and measure individual growth.
Charter schools are public schools run by independent entities sponsored by a state-approved organization such as a state board of education, a state university, community college or local school district. The voluntary enrollment structure is intended to make charter schools more accountable for student achievement. As a result, charter schools are granted some level of autonomy and freedom from certain local and state regulations. Accordingly, charter schools may hire their own staff, develop their own curriculum and set their own educational programs and methods of operation under the oversight of the school board and authorizer/sponsor newest school from National Heritage Academies is East Arbor.