Kuma Academy is proposing to be a public site based charter school. Kuma Academy will serve Transitional Kindergarten (TK) through Eighth grade, with plans to locate in North Huntington Beach.

Kuma Academy is dedicated to helping your children reach their fullest potential. Kuma Academy believes this is best achieved by applying Dr. Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences and creating a Personalized Educational Plan (PEP) for each student. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences will be applied with multiple educational facets such as STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics), Music, Arts, and Foreign Language classes and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) concepts. A PEP will be designed for each student to customize their learning and enhance their overall academic experience.

The driving force behind this charter petition was to create a school for children who struggle in the traditional classroom setting. Kuma Academy recognizes that educating children can’t always be done in a one-size fits all approach. By creating a PEP for each student, Kuma Academy educators will be able to group the students in a way that allows them to learn at their academic level and pace. Class assignments will be differentiated to accommodate students performing at grade-level, below grade-level, and above grade-level. By teaching students at their current academic level, Kuma founding educators have seen positive results such as a greater interest in learning, faster mastery of concepts, and a decrease in behavioral problems.

Kuma Academy also recognizes the importance of teaching children to work together, empowering children to make their own choices to solve their problems, being kind and considerate, and understanding someone else’s perspective. Kuma will have an extensive social component that will be woven into daily lessons. At Kuma, there will be a focus on both academics and social skills.

Establishing Kuma Academy will provide an option that’s different from the current collection of traditional public schools currently located in the North Huntington Beach area. As Kuma intends to be a relatively small school, it will be able to offer small class sizes in which each will be instructed by a teacher and an accompanying aide, students will be able to receive the support and attention that they require within the classroom.