By Stephen C. Schultz
“English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment, and education – sometimes it’s sheer luck, like getting across the street.” ~ E.B. White
Oxbow Academy, a flagship Residential Treatment Center and Boarding School, enrolls students aged 10-17 and provides an excellent educational opportunity for foreign students who would benefit from an international experience. Oxbow specializes in providing academic and therapeutic services to bright underachievers who may also struggle with depression, anxiety, and problematic sexual behavior (PSB) issues. Many students may lack the emotional maturity or grades necessary to be accepted into a top-tier U.S. boarding school. Foreign students can graduate from Oxbow Academy with an accredited high school diploma and transition directly to American universities. Oxbow Academy has been certified through SEVIS to issue Forms I-20 and maintain current F-1/M-1 student records. This approval first occurred in 2006.
In standard academic systems around the world, time is the constant and learning is the variable. In other words, students begin the year and systematically move through the curriculum. At various times throughout the year, exams are given, and grades are earned based on the student’s learning. Time is the constant, and learning is the variable.
At Oxbow Academy, time is the variable, and learning is the constant. Oxbow utilizes a competency-based learning system. The core curriculum from each subject is broken into learning chapters. The student must learn and demonstrate competency in each chapter before moving on to the next. For example, when a student completes a chapter in 10th-year Chemistry, they then take a test on that concept. The expectation is that the student demonstrates at least 80% proficiency before moving to the next chapter. If they score below 80%, they go back and continue studying the material until they can pass with 80% or higher.
This system ensures that learning remains the constant while time becomes the variable. At Oxbow Academy, students have the ability to progress through the curriculum at a personalized pace. Some subjects may take less time, while others require more. Students learn how to learn and become aware of their academic strengths and weaknesses.
When luck is not an option, this academic system allows families from around the world to access a first-rate education, as well as emotional support and therapeutic treatment for teens who are struggling. When learning, competency, and self-motivation matter, Oxbow Academy is the right choice.
Oxbow Academy has enrolled students from the following countries: the United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, France, the Netherlands, Dubai, Italy, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, and Singapore, to name a few.
Comments
What a marvelous way of describing the standard approach to education. When I was in the classroom, I saw very closely one of the consequences of this mind set. I found that in my classroom, I was teaching to the middle. That is, those quick to understand were bored, and those slower to understand were overwhelmed and confused. But, with the rigid time schedule, the best I could hope for would be to help the middle third.
Lon