Welcome – A Letter from the Founder
Greetings PAVE Supporter:
PAVE Academy is beginning its second year. I took the quieter months of summer to reflect on our first year and plan for the year ahead. I thought about what makes PAVE Academy tick, our greatest assets and the challenges ahead.
It did not take long for me to figure out that it is the people -- the PAVE community -- who are the cornerstones of the school. In a recent speech, President Obama said, "Change comes from people." I couldn't agree more. Our teachers work tirelessly to pave a road for a school that started out as nothing more than a concept (or literally a few empty classrooms). Thanks to them and the support of a strong administrative staff, PAVE has a dynamic, challenging curriculum and strategically utilizes intervaled assessments to make sure all of our students are learning. Each morning I see students running to our front door at 730AM-- a testament to our team and the learning environment we have fostered. At PAVE, learning is not always easy but the teachers always inspire their students with vigor and energy.
Our scholars have created change too. I believe our students now view school and learning in a new way. When I walk down the halls, I can feel the students' pride in being part of the PAVE family. There's a palpable exuberance that is a result of making huge academic strides; students who entered in August without knowing the alphabet were reading independently at the end of the year. There's a new self-awareness in the way our students treat fellow scholars, teachers and the physical school space with respect and kindness. What once was just a notion and idea -- that our scholars will pave their way to college brick by brick -- is now a reality.
I could not have imagined a more a supportive parent body. I sometimes joke that wherever I turn in the building, I find a parent helping out by stamping envelopes, supporting classroom instruction or assisting with lunch and recess. Whenever teachers need chaperones for field trips, there are an abundance of volunteers. Their support does not stop at the school. Parents put great value in PAVE's culture of high expectations and live out that culture at home. They are incredible partners on this road to college.
PAVE's second year will be different. We will be a bigger school. We will be more established and experienced. But we will keep that same gritty, relentless scrappiness of a new school working to prove itself. We will preserve that special feeling of an intimate, small community. We will continue along the bumpy, obstacle-filled road to college. With the people in the PAVE community, I know we'll get there.
Sincerely,
Spencer Robertson
Founder and Executive Director
PAVE Academy