Our Philosophy

Success is not a linear process for most students. It is also not most definably found on a piece of paper. Success is measured best by an invested teacher who knows your student and spends years working with them. 

NDA's cornerstone for tracking, measuring, and evaluating success is our Mentor-Teachers who work with your student for years. This combined with a real partnership that is had through close communication between parents and school offer the context for a true measure of student success. 

We test and quiz here at NDA but do not believe that testing and quizzing should operate as a core element of a grade or evaluation. Quiz and testing operate as one part of evaluation. 

Rather, we focus on what our teacher-mentors see in their students in a variety of learning contexts over a long period of time. These periods are graded each quarter. But, the goals and our evaluation of those goals is based on a unique blend of individualization, key academic skills, broader academic goals, parent feedback and priority, and state requirements. 

This is the cornerstone of tracking success for us at NDA. Through quarterly in-depth report cards and 2-3 in-depth meetings each year we operate as real partners with deep knowledge of your student. We report, share, strategize, collaborate, and look forward to your student's next steps. 

These meetings are a microcosm of what we want available to all our parents. A close and trusted relationship between parents and teachers. 

We were founded to be an innovative educational alternative that served parents and students in ways that are not offered in other places. This means that in many ways we do not "fit the mold." That is intentional.

Yet, being a school in Michigan means we offer curriculum and classes that meets Michigan State Standards. This means that our High School graduates will graduate with all necessary Michigan state standards. But, meeting state standards is not our primary goal educationally. It is one goal of many. Our goal is to reach higher than simply achieving state standards by focusing on a holistic education that serves the student as a person. 

Our elementary and middle school classes operate within Michigan expectations without the rigid structure that public schools operate in. Meaning, our goals are unique depending on the class (Forest School, K-3, 4th-6th, and 7th-12th).

Part of how we achieve these goals is how we handle pressure in the school setting. A classroom that cultivates pressure through comparison, applies pressure through a focus on testing, and educates without taking into account the individual, create a atmosphere of pressure. One way we mitigate this is to allow for more time for a student, with a focus on equipping for the next steps, while also taking into account the unique strengths and struggles of each student. Some students take more time than others at different places in their childhood. We want to be responsive to that and cultivate a learning experience that is unique to each child and family.