Who we are
The Future Academy is a college-preparatory, small-learning community located at Arroyo High School in San Lorenzo, California. In this school-within-a-school, students prosper from smaller classes and an integrated, social-service curriculum.
Mission Statement
The Future Academy is a diverse community that nurtures and develops social awareness and the skills to enact change. Future students explore their passions and interests while engaging in community learning and service. The Future Academy offers A-G, college-preparatory curriculum and guides students to developing their professional and personal goals.
Future Academy Students Are:
- Socially Aware
- Empowered to Better Their Communities
- Independent, Critical Thinkers
- Self Aware
- College Ready
Future History
The Future Academy began in 1998 as a fully-funded California Partnership Academy whose career focus was teaching and learning. Students learned how to design curriculum and teach, which they did in local schools. The Future Academy consisted of roughly 90 students in grades 10 through 12.
At its inception, the Future Academy began almost 10 years ago as a remedy for the traditional classroom experience, whereby many students’ academic and personal needs were not being fully met. The three-year program allowed teachers and students to foster meaningful relationships. Creating meaningful relationships and experiences has always been at the core of the Future Academy’s mission.
In 2005, the Future Academy became a Small Learning Community (SLC). With its first ninth grade class, the Future Academy was able to reach students at the pivotal beginning. That year the Future Academy began collaboration with Arroyo’s special day classes, working on integrated projects and mutually benefiting from an inclusive learning environment.
As enrollment expanded, so did the academy theme. Building on the original focus of serving the community through teaching and learning, the Future Academy broadened its scope. Through more varied opportunities to interact with the community, students ventured further into affecting substantial change in it.
Now, with the ongoing help of the California Partnership Academy grant, the Future Academy serves nearly 300 students, with the goal of 400 in 2008. This funding allows Future Academy teachers to develop curriculum that is relavant to students' lives, to bring students out of the classroom on field trips and internships, and to provide students with resources unheard of in most public schools, such as technology and varied texts.
