HARBORSIDE ACADEMY
EL Education Credentialing Portfolio
ABOUT HARBORSIDE ACADEMY
Harborside Academy is a college preparatory middle and high school using the EL Education model. EL Education schools combine rigorous academic content and real-world projects with active learning and community service. Harborside was one of thirty schools funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Delta Project in 2007.
Located in the southeastern corner of Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Michigan, Harborside Academy is in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the center of the metropolitan strip that stretches from Chicago to Milwaukee. Spanning 80 square miles, Kenosha Unified School District is the third-largest school district in the state of Wisconsin and serves the educational needs of the City of Kenosha, Village of Pleasant Prairie, and Town of Somers.
Harborside Academy serves an overall population of 601 students in Grades 6 through 12. A public charter school within the Kenosha Unified School District, Harborside is a choice school whose population is enrolled via a lottery system.
MISSION STATEMENT
Harborside Academy's mission as an EL Education school is to provide a rigorous academic program through learning expeditions in a small, personalized setting that impels and prepares students for full participation in the intellectual, economic and civil life of our society. Our approach draws students, teachers, and parents together in pursuit of high standards of academic achievement, character, and service to the community.
When Harborside Academy opened, "Nobody eats alone at Harborside" was a motto that specifically pointed to how we treat each other in the cafeteria. Today it means, "Nobody should be left alone to solve a problem." Our motto stands for the value of getting to know others well and creating a school climate that celebrates both academic growth and character development and that complements the school mission.
Harborside places a very high value on the formation of character among students, as evidenced by its policies and practices. Fostering Habits of Success rates as equal to academic traditions and policies. Harborside has implemented a wide-reaching program that teaches, reinforces, and takes stock in these traits. With such a high emphasis on character education, Harborside has developed an integrated plan for fostering strong soft-skill and moral development. This emphasis permeates daily activities and directs decision-making processes.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Demographically, the student population breakdown by race/ethnicity is American Indian 0.3%, Asian 1.7%, Black not Hispanic 8.8%, Hispanic 24%, and White not Hispanic 60.3%. The breakdown by student groups has 7.8% students identified as students with disabilities, 40.7% classified as economically disadvantaged, and 4.6% as having limited English proficiency.
Intended audiences: Please understand that this website has been created with multiple audiences in mind. This document serves as our EL Education credentialing portfolio. Harborside also uses this site as a report to help on-board new staff and to the school’s governance board. There are times that this site will be referred to while doing parent information sessions with our community and it will be utilized frequently to communicate our overall plan to professionals that visit our school.