BK Academy (Bellevue, King County) serves gifted preschool and elementary students in Bellevue, Eastside of Seattle. It is an accredited elementary school and licensed childcare. BK Academy facilitates empathy and perseverance for change makers. BK Academy is mainly focused on students' social/emotional/character development. Our best asset is the student body. When they feel understood by their peers, empathy starts growing. Enough playtime, close observation, and individualized guidance is the key to teach students to be fair to themselves and to others at the same time.
Research Project is another unique feature of BK Academy, where students have room to make decisions for their learning. Students choose the topic, ask questions, and come up with ways to find the answers. With their teachers' guidance students make plans for experiments, activities, and field trips as part of the research projects. Students also experience how to follow through their plans as a group to create a monthly presentation for parents.
Although academic achievement is not the priority, most of BK Academy students have higher levels of academic achievement. We provide advanced academics that fit each child's needs. The purpose is not the content itself. The purpose is to teach perseverance. Without a challenging curriculum, gifted students learn how to not work hard. Coupled with elaborated peer play in extended period of time under specialists' supervision, BK Academy students learn perseverance and perspectives in life.
BK Academy is small, which makes it possible to have less bullying/peer teasing and provides an avenue for shy students to blossom. It also enables non-graded classrooms, individualized instruction, low student/teacher ratios, cross-age grouping, stronger involvement. Nowadays students can almost any knowledge online. A small group can foster strong citizenship, leadership, and social emotional skills through meaningful relationships with peers and teachers.
Some parents are concerned about the IQ test requirements. While students are on the individual IQ test, they mostly do not realize they are on a test. It seems like play or a game for them. Besides, being gifted is not always detected especially when the student's achievement level is not high or when the student shows behavioral issues at school. IQ testing is especially useful to screen their needs.