Catalyst EDU - Why Does the Catalyst EDU Team Enjoy Working with Challenging Teens?

Catalyst Academy - Igniting achievement in resilient teens

"We love helping kids. Our staff has decades of experience working with all kinds of teens in a variety of educational and therapeutic settings. Nothing satisfies us more than helping adolescents regain confidence and develop the desire and the academic and social skills they need to step out and take on the world."

-- Ed Porritt, Founder of Catalyst EDU

Why does the Catalyst Team Enjoy Working with Challenging Teens?
Working with resilient teens is very satisfying to us. We have found through experience that the most appreciative students are those who are actively re-creating their high school experience after experiencing a personal setback. There is no better feeling than helping an adolescent re-gain the confidence, motivation, and desire to step back out and take on the world, with a strong arsenal of contemporary skills to help him or her do so.

How is Catalyst Similar to other Schools?
As with most other high schools, Catalyst students earn credits from a fully-accredited high school. The curriculum at Catalyst EDU is similar to that of other schools, at least at first. Colorado State Content Standards and 21^st Century Skills provide the framework for the classes as well as structure and benchmarks to create a well-balanced academic program. State standards also drive our assessments of critical skills, such as calculating heat release during a chemical reaction, outlining a persuasive argument, factoring polynomials, and conducting primary political research. Within this context, Catalyst students are encouraged to find something personally meaningful to study in each class and then focus their attention and dig deep for true conceptual meaning. Finally, the Catalyst transcript looks like a normal block-schedule transcript, with traditional course titles and letter grades.

How is Catalyst Different from other Schools?
Other than the curriculum and the transcript, there are few similarities between Catalyst and other high schools. At Catalyst, the student assumes control of what to study, when to take each subject, and takes responsibility for his or her own attendance. The pace is not steady – it starts slowly and accelerates over time. Before long, a student may spend 30 or more hours each week studying but actually spend only six or eight hours in school. By the last six months, the entire Catalyst experience is so rich and full of energy that our seniors typically spend 50-60 hours each week passionately working, researching, creating and learning, and few think of this as “homework.” Rather than catching “senioritis” and “falling asleep at the academic wheel,” our students finish high school with a crescendo!

When is the Best Time for a Student to Begin Catalyst? [Read more ...]