At Epiphany, we aim to provide every student with a great middle school education that puts them first, and a rich and engaging academic curriculum and classroom experience is at the center of what we do. The many support structures Epiphany offers for the physical, social, and emotional well-being of students and families put the student in a situation where education can be her or his top priority.
Epiphany teachers are committed to the humanity and dignity of each student and honor the deep wells of intellect, experience, and talent our students bring to the classroom. In each class, teachers work to develop a critical mass of learners, building a culture of curiosity and questioning that empowers students with the intellectual and academic tools to think originally, imaginatively, and independently. Every student deserves exposure to a broad range of academic subjects, issues, ideas, and experiences through the curriculum: humanities and sciences, arts and athletics, character development and community involvement. It is the craft of teachers to provide our students, no matter their intellectual or academic level, with access to the full range and depth of this curriculum. This access to an excellent education is urgent – not just for our students’ future schooling or economic security – but to provide them the tools to access, reimagine, and remake existing power structures and, ultimately, to allow them to determine for themselves what they want to do with their lives and what kind of people they want to become.
Our teaching practices in the classroom show our values. Every decision about what to teach and how to teach it is a political and moral choice.
At Epiphany, our teaching:
● is student-centered and thoughtfully teacher-structured, so as to empower each learner to construct new knowledge and question received traditions and interpretations.
● is inquiry-based, pushing students to generate and explore their own questions and insights through engagement with a wide range of problems, issues, themes, and texts.
● puts the development of literacy, numeracy, and critical and independent thinking at the center of all learning activities.
● seeks to dignify students by honoring the assets they bring to the classroom; to create critical and democratic spaces for the unique and independent voices they are developing; and to challenge them with a diverse, demanding, and ultimately liberating academic and social curriculum.
