Who we are
Gift of Knowledge Academy is an independent, nonprofit, K-2 school. At Gift of Knowledge Academy, we believe that every child should be given the opportunity to reach their full potential. This can be achieved by starting early, in grades K-2, and providing students with a firm foundation in literacy and math equipping them with the skills necessary to succeed in school and later in life. At Gift of Knowledge Academy, we are passionate about helping to eradicate illiteracy, decreasing the dropout rate, bridging the literacy gap, and helping to build the self-confidence and self-esteem of beginning readers and learners.
We offer small class sizes – a 10-to-1 student/teacher ratio or less. Small classes minimize distractions as well as allow us to give our students more individualized attention. We also have a Reading Specialist come in twice a week to help those students who require it. We provide all of the school supplies for our students to use in class, and we send supplies and manipulatives home for them to use when doing homework or working virtually. The students are given a notebook with materials we are covering in class for them to review and study at home. Our second-grade students also learn how to write in cursive and must write in cursive in their journals during the second half of the year.
Since we began in the fall of 2016, over 90% of our kindergarten students have been reading in 5 months. Most didn’t even know all of the alphabet when they started. All of our 2nd grade graduates have been at or above grade level in reading and math. Half of them were actually reading on a 4th grade level as measured by mClass/Dibels assessments.
Instruction
Gift of Knowledge Academy's literacy curriculum is based on the Science of Reading. According to decades of extensive research conducted by the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD), all reading instruction should include 5 components – phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and reading comprehension. Gift of Knowledge Academy incorporates these 5 components as well as writing, spelling, sight words, while also implementing a multisensory approach to learning.
For math, we teach number sense, which is key to understanding and excelling in math. Students gain a sense of what numbers mean, understand their relationship to one another, are able to perform mental math, understand symbolic representations, and are able to use those numbers in real world situations.
We also incorporate Social Studies, Science, Music, Art, and Computer Technology and character building. We incorporate lots of hands-on learning, and we make learning fun through games and manipulatives.
In spite of the challenge of going to online classroom instruction as a result of the restrictions placed on schools due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, with our parents’ support, we were able to complete 10 weeks of online classroom instruction to finish out the 2019-2020 school year and complete the full 2020-2021 school year virtually on Zoom with no negative impact to our ability to provide a quality education to our students.
Take a look at our Alphabetical Order Lesson on Zoom https://youtu.be/CHGKrIFTVU8
Basic tuition for grades K-2 is $8,500.00 with a $15.00 fee. (The $15 fee is being waived). For families who apply for and receive the NC Opportunity Scholarship Tier 1 or Tier 2 award, we cover the additional tuition costs through our fundraisers and grants so that they do not have to pay anything to receive a quality education for their child. School scholarships may also be available for families not receiving these awards. Please contact the school to check for available school scholarships.
Gift of Knowledge Academy admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
We offer small class sizes – a 10-to-1 student/teacher ratio or less. Small classes minimize distractions as well as allow us to give our students more individualized attention. We also have a Reading Specialist come in twice a week to help those students who require it. We provide all of the school supplies for our students to use in class, and we send supplies and manipulatives home for them to use when doing homework or working virtually. The students are given a notebook with materials we are covering in class for them to review and study at home. Our second-grade students also learn how to write in cursive and must write in cursive in their journals during the second half of the year.
Since we began in the fall of 2016, over 90% of our kindergarten students have been reading in 5 months. Most didn’t even know all of the alphabet when they started. All of our 2nd grade graduates have been at or above grade level in reading and math. Half of them were actually reading on a 4th grade level as measured by mClass/Dibels assessments.
Instruction
Gift of Knowledge Academy's literacy curriculum is based on the Science of Reading. According to decades of extensive research conducted by the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD), all reading instruction should include 5 components – phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and reading comprehension. Gift of Knowledge Academy incorporates these 5 components as well as writing, spelling, sight words, while also implementing a multisensory approach to learning.
For math, we teach number sense, which is key to understanding and excelling in math. Students gain a sense of what numbers mean, understand their relationship to one another, are able to perform mental math, understand symbolic representations, and are able to use those numbers in real world situations.
We also incorporate Social Studies, Science, Music, Art, and Computer Technology and character building. We incorporate lots of hands-on learning, and we make learning fun through games and manipulatives.
In spite of the challenge of going to online classroom instruction as a result of the restrictions placed on schools due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, with our parents’ support, we were able to complete 10 weeks of online classroom instruction to finish out the 2019-2020 school year and complete the full 2020-2021 school year virtually on Zoom with no negative impact to our ability to provide a quality education to our students.
Take a look at our Alphabetical Order Lesson on Zoom https://youtu.be/CHGKrIFTVU8
Basic tuition for grades K-2 is $8,500.00 with a $15.00 fee. (The $15 fee is being waived). For families who apply for and receive the NC Opportunity Scholarship Tier 1 or Tier 2 award, we cover the additional tuition costs through our fundraisers and grants so that they do not have to pay anything to receive a quality education for their child. School scholarships may also be available for families not receiving these awards. Please contact the school to check for available school scholarships.
Gift of Knowledge Academy admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
Please mail your completed application to:
Gift of Knowledge Academy
P.O. Box 14162
Durham, NC 27709
Gift of Knowledge Academy
P.O. Box 14162
Durham, NC 27709