Academics

The instructional goal of Unity Prep is to provide students with an exceptional liberal arts and sciences education that will equip them with the knowledge and skills to succeed at the secondary and post-secondary level. Our definition of a liberal arts and sciences education is adapted from Becker (2003): a modern liberal arts and sciences education, which includes the study of literature, mathematics, history, and science, is designed to foster in students the desire and capacity to learn, think critically, and communicate proficiently, and to prepare them to function as engaged citizens. At the middle school level students at Unity Prep will develop the strong foundational skills that are essential to any discipline, including:

• Narrative, informational, and expository writing skills that show an understanding of audience and purpose; a command of craft, grammar, and conventions; an awareness of content-specific and academic vocabulary; and the ability to elaborate, cite evidence, and articulate and defend ideas and opinions effectively
• Reading comprehension skills to interpret complex literary and informational texts in a variety of forms, gather relevant information, determine central themes and ideas, make connections, generate critiques, and analyze texts and ideas from various perspectives
• Skills relevant to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), including the ability to organize and understand data, to conjecture through logic and reason, to identify and analyze problems, to design and carry out procedures with precision, efficiency, and flexibility, to monitor and evaluate one’s own progress, to use tools and resources strategically, and to develop critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills