What Makes Us Different
We are a transition school — by design
Most schools ask families to commit to a long journey within their walls. We ask something different: trust us for three years, and we'll help your child reach a place where a larger, more-traditional environment becomes not just possible, but right for them. That is our mission: to build the academic skills and social-emotional foundation that allow students to successfully return to—and thrive in—larger, more-traditional schools settings.
The path looks different depending on when a student joins us. A second-grader typically stays through fifth grade and transitions at the middle-school level. Students who arrive later may be with us through eighth grade. In some cases when additional social-emotional support is needed, we offer a ninth-grade bridge program. What stays constant is the goal: meaningful, lasting growth—and a well-prepared exit.
We are a microschool
McKinna is known as a microschool—a relatively new term for a small, intentionally sized school that maintains real school structure and culture. We are not a tutoring center, and we are not a one-on-one program. We believe deeply that learning to be a student—developing the habits, behaviors, and interpersonal skills that make learning possible—is just as important as academic content. That kind of growth only happens within a community.
What we offer instead of size is intimacy and precision. Our student-to-teacher ratio never exceeds 8:1, and our skill-based classes often break down further when students need more-individualized support. We are large enough to feel like school, yet small enough to truly know every child. This allows us to be nimble, to adjust and be adaptable to meet every child’s needs.
One honest note: because of our size, we are not the right fit for families seeking a band, choir, theater, or athletic program. What we offer instead is something harder to find — a school built around your child.
We are large enough to feel like school, yet small enough to truly know every child.
One size DOESN'T fit all
When a student enrolls, we don't look at their age or prior grade and make assumptions. We assess academic strengths and areas of need alongside social and emotional readiness — and we place students accordingly. A child may work at one level in reading and a different level in math. That's not unusual here. That's the point.
Because we don't lock students into grade-level assignments, we can move quickly. A student making strong progress in an area doesn't have to wait for the class to catch up — they move when they're ready. And within every class, we differentiate. Four students working on the same fourth-grade math concept may each need a different method to master multiplication. We know that, and we plan for it.
When something isn't working, WE change — not the child
Most schools expect students to adapt to the school. McKinna applies something closer to the scientific method: when a student isn't progressing the way we'd hope, we go back to the data. We revisit assessments and evaluations to take a closer look at how that student processes information. We examine the techniques and strategies we've been using, and we ask hard questions about what might work better.
Then we adjust. We find new approaches that work in better concert with the way a particular child learns — and we try again. It's an iterative process, and it reflects a core belief: the responsibility to adapt belongs to us, not to your child.
Most schools expect students to adapt to the school. We believe the responsibility to adapt belongs to us.
IEP goals are a living part of our program
We don't file IEP goals away and revisit them at annual meetings. We work with them daily, ensuring that the objectives set by a student's educational team are actively embedded in instruction and tracked over time. Families can expect regular communication about progress — not surprises at the end of the year.
Social-emotional learning is woven into every school day
We incorporate a structured SEL curriculum throughout our program — not as a separate class or a once-a-week check-in, but as an integrated part of how we teach, interact, and support students. For neurodiverse and twice-exceptional learners, the social-emotional piece is often the key that unlocks everything else. We take it seriously.
Experiential learning builds problem-solving skills and grit
We're dedicated to experiential learning for our students. Experiential education is a hands-on form of learning that affords students the opportunities to apply their innate problem-solving skills, incorporate the skills they learn through direct instruction, and apply them to real-life experiences. After solving a problem, learners reflect on the process and can apply lessons more broadly to their lives.
Adventure and challenge are at the heart of experiential learning as students are pushed out of their comfort zone and into the learning zone, where the greatest educational gains can occur. Once they tackle a problem, students are then guided to reflect, modify, make adaptations, and create new solutions. This process takes learning to a deeper level and develops higher-level thinking skills as well as grit, which leads to success when our students transition to other more traditional academic programs.
At McKinna Learning Academy, experiential learning experiences have included:
● Science and math labs
● Our annual science fair
● Math Game Day
● Written expression, including essays and short story writing
● Slam Poetry Showcase
● Student-written plays
● Community service projects
● Field trips
We incorporate social-emotional learning not as a separate class or a once-a-week check-in, but as an integrated part of how we teach.