AMERICAN ACADEMY IN BRNO
1ST - 12TH GRADE
A network of American schools, we are inspired by the best educational concepts from around the world: freedom to choose subjects, individual approach, subjects divided according to competences, emphasis on practical learning, project-based learning and theme weeks. All classes are taught in English and led by a team of teachers from all over the world.
American Academy in Brno is a school that educates leaders for the 21st century. With our unique blend of American-style curriculum and project-based learning, we teach students a wide variety of subjects, and more importantly, how to think creatively and use what they know. Our students learn skills they will use in their future workplaces: collaboration, making presentations, analyzing data, working with people from all over the world, problem solving and thinking outside the box.
Our major aim is to create a safe environment for all our students in which they will be able to fully develop their individual talents and potentials. We believe that each student is unique, learns differently and deserves an individual approach from their teachers and educators.
All the faculty, staff and student body work hard to create a family atmosphere at school, where we respect each other as friends, partners and collaborators. We do not know what the future holds for our students.
Therefore American Academy in Brno focuses on educating creative, articulate and open minded students who can adapt to a variety of environments and truly be citizens of the world.
American Academy is a network of American schools with campuses in Prague, Brno and Bratislava. The whole network has a unified educational concept. It is important that American Academy keeps moving forward and satisfies the parents’ and students’ needs. At the end of each trimester, there is a school-wide anonymous survey investigating overall satisfaction with the school.
We put emphasis on individual approach, professionalism and openness. That is why we are happy that the majority of parents perceive our teachers as very open and helpful. They perceive American Academy as a quality educational institution and all of them agree that their child feels safe at school.
The utmost priority of American Academy is to lead the students towards great academic achievements through a quality program that prepares them for studying at universities all around the globe. Our students achieve above average results compared to their American peers in the HSGE tests, with an average of 70 points.
Our curriculum is inspired by the best of world’s educational programs, notably American and Finnish systems.
Our students have the freedom to choose the subjects they want to study so they can focus on what really interests them and develop necessary social and practical skills during high school.
Much like the International Baccalaureate Diploma or British high school diploma, our students must get their diploma validated if they want to apply for a Czech university. It is a process which we are familiar with, and we are happy to help the students go through it. American Academy also offers Advanced Placement courses, which are equivalent to university courses in the American and Canadian systems. Students take exams in these subjects, which are comparable to the IB exams and accepted by universities around the world.
Our unique concept gives the students the freedom to choose courses they want to study at the level that best fits their needs and competencies. The classes are not necessarily divided according to grade level, but rather academic ability. This allows for an academic atmosphere where the differences in ability level between students are not so large, ultimately allowing our teachers to approach teaching more individually, and therefore, more effectively.
Elementary program
for children 6-12 years
Beginning September 2021, the American Academy will offer our own elementary school program, which will complement the existing Middle School and High School programs. Students can start studying at the American Academy in the first grade and stay with us all the way through high school.
The core of our educational concept is an emphasis on project and thematic learning, which enables students to both learn and apply that learning across a wide range of real-world topics. At American Academy, teachers support students’ individual abilities and encourage them to independently discover things about the world around them.
The elementary school will open in Prague and Brno to pupils from the first to fifth grades, i.e. children from 6 to 12 years of age, beginning September 2021. In a friendly and safe environment, children will meet teachers from all over the world and study exclusively in English, thus gaining an incredible advantage for the future. We teach our students to live in a community of unique individuals who can also work together as one cohesive whole.
We believe it is crucial that our students had easy access to knowledge that is not usually taught at schools. We offer a wide variety of choices, which allows students to focus on what really interests them and what they enjoy.
THEME WEEKS
In addition to our American based curriculum, American Academy offers theme weeks in inspired by Finnish educational system. During theme weeks, there is a school-wide project that develops skills and competencies such as communication, team work, collaboration, problem solving, creativity, critical thinking or project management.
This was the most challenging theme week students were faced with. They were tasked with organizing their own business conference which included everything from finding venues to developing a program of speakers. Students managed the whole budget, established relationships with partners in the business community and even had to deal with the feeling of rejection. They gained valuable skills which can be applied in their future careers. The result was an amazing conference held at Brněnské výstaviště which attracted a wide range of audience members including students and businessmen. Our students were filled with pride at what they were able to accomplish.
“We were given a task, but really it was a whole space to fill”. This is how one of our students described their adventure in the second theme week. Students used their creativity to design a performance centered around problems and issues that face their age group in society. They wrote or chose their own text about different topics including the effects of social media, mental health issues, famine, sustainability and others. They pieced the whole performance together, including rehearsing diligently to make it great. The results were beyond the expectations of any teacher at American Academy. No parents’ eyes were dry after listening to the performances. We even got to hear two songs!
Our students’ very first experience with the American Academy theme week was a Halloween celebration which they decided to call “Scare-O-Rama”. During this week long event, the students were divided into various organizational groups, each entrusted with a specific task to ensure the success of the final event. With minimal assistance from the teaching staff, the students were entrusted with marketing, food and drink, and halloween-themed activities like zombie face painting, scary storytelling, and decorations. The most successful aspect of the entire event was the complete transformation of a classroom into an amazingly frightening maze enjoyed by all of those who dared to enter. Scar-o-rama truly showed how the American Academy experience goes beyond classroom learning.
Theme Week 3 was done in a hybrid way. Some students decided to get together while others preferred to stay home and work from there. There were several different working groups, each focusing on a specific topic related to Covid-19. Some students were to describe their quarantine experience, daily routine, and/or things that worked/did not work for them in the form of a manual for surviving a quarantine while still learning new things. Another group was tasked with creating a time capsule to be kept at school for another 10 years to tell future students about our current experience with the coronavirus . And one group was asked to create a piece of art related to Covid-19.
Don’t expect long tests; we are mostly interested in the student’s character and enthusiasm. That is why we focus on a personal interview and written essays. For the academic year 2020/21, we have spots for 55 students.
GRADUATE PROFILE
- 2020 -
An American Academy graduate is a confident young person who is engaged in the immediate world around them and will be mindful of those that exist around them. They have developed confidence, solve problems actively, and always take full ownership of their actions. They have discovered what their main values are and are able to act upon them.
Graduating from an international school, the students are ready to begin higher education anywhere in the world, including the highest ranking universities.
COLLEGE ACCEPTANCE MAP
See for yourself that learning can be engaging and support curiosity. Our students develop skills necessary for a successful life at the professional level already in high school.
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