The school parents mean when they ask for a non-woke school
Enough parents phone and use the words non-woke or conservative that pretending otherwise would be silly. So here is the straight answer, in the form that's worth something: not a label, but a list of what actually happens, which you can hold us to.
A label means five different things to five different parents and can't be checked. A policy can.
What happens in the classroom
One flag flies here, and it's the Canadian one. We don't open the day with a land acknowledgement. Gender and sexuality are subjects for parents, not teachers. If it ever comes up, a student is directed to talk it over with their parents.
Politics stays out of lessons entirely, in every direction. When students debate, they argue both sides of the question, which is how a person learns to think rather than what to conclude.
The part that makes the rest believable
Parents read every unit before it's taught, and the curriculum stays open all year to any family in the school. You never have to wonder what was covered while you were at work, and you never have to trust a stranger's summary of it.
Any school can tell you it shares your values. Almost none will show you the material in advance.
Parental rights
Every school says it partners with parents. The test is what a parent can actually see and actually refuse.
You read every unit before it's taught. You can ask what's coming in any subject at any point in the year and get a written answer, because it's already written. If something is scheduled that you would rather handle at home, you will know months ahead. And when you disagree with us, you're talking to the people who make the decision.
Gender ideology
It's not on the timetable at any grade. There's no curriculum unit on gender identity, no classroom materials on it, and no adult here treating it as their business to shape what a child concludes about it.
If a child raises it, they're directed to talk it over with their parents. Every time, from every teacher, in the same words. A child is never told they're wrong to have asked, and they're never given an adult's answer to an adult's question.
Who can enrol
Any family who wants this for their child is welcome to apply. We're describing what we teach, not who we'll teach, and those are different things.
In practice the families who arrive here disagree with each other about plenty. What they have in common is wanting their kids taught to think rather than told what to conclude, which turns out to be a wider agreement than the phone calls suggest.
Questions about What we stand for
Do you teach gender ideology?
No, at any grade. There's no unit on it, no materials for it, and if a child raises it they're directed to talk it over with their parents.
Do you do land acknowledgements?
No. We don't open the day with one. History is taught as history, in its own lessons, with the material published to families in advance like everything else.
Is this a religious school?
No. There's no religious instruction and no denominational affiliation. Families of every faith and none are welcome, and what we teach doesn't change depending on which are in the room.
Would my family be welcome if we don't think of ourselves as conservative?
Yes, and plenty don't. What the families here have in common is wanting politics kept out of a Grade 2 classroom, which turns out to be a much wider view than the label suggests.
Join the founding families list
The Academy opens when the founding cohort is full. Families on the list get first places, help set the first year's calendar, and keep the founding rate for as long as their child is enrolled.