Aspen Academy - Savage, MN

Aspen Academy is a public charter school located in Savage, Minnesota. Aspen focuses on Core Knowledge and holds high academic expectations while building common values among staff, students, and families. As we have worked to develop a new staffing model, strengthen curriculum alignment, and increase community and parental involvement, THINK values have been the backbone for enhancing collaboration, communication, and consistency.

THINK (Tenacity, High Expectations, Integrity, No Excuses, and Kindness) is the thread that runs through all we do every day for every student, building common language and expectations to support the development of the whole child. Integrating THINK principles into teaching and learning allows mistakes to be seen as opportunities to reteach and to help students grow. This creates an environment in which students feel safe to take educational risks. Students are celebrated for actions and choices that embody THINK values and are supported when they need to Re-Think decisions that fall short of school standards. The principles develop critical character traits that are necessary for reaching the district's mission and vision. The explicit teaching, modeling, and practicing of human values not only leads to students reaching academic outcomes, but to their becoming change agents who will have far-reaching positive impact in the world.