Foundation Academy Glossary of Commonly Used Terms
Advisory- a group of students that meets with an advisor (a Foundation Academy faculty member) daily for various amounts of time.
Chalk Talk- a group “discussion” carried out in silence, with participants writing their thoughts on whiteboard or a large piece of paper.
Choice Block- a one-hour period in which students may pursue individual interests or attend to individual needs.
Community Council (formerly Student Council)- a legislative committee of students, each representing his/her advisory, or a percentage of the whole student body. There are also teacher representatives.
Divisions- three sections of the school, each with certain requirements that each student must achieve in order to progress and ultimately graduate; divisions roughly equate to traditional grade levels, but students advance to the next level based on their ability to meet a given set of standards rather than their age.

Domain- The Foundation Academy’s five areas of knowledge: History and Literature (HILI), Math and Science (MASC), Spanish and American Sign Language,  Advisory-Seminar, and Arts

Essential Question- a broad question around which a large part of a year’s work is organized; helps to focus work across domains; is moral or existential in nature and cannot be answered with a “yes” or “no” response.

Exhibition- a public presentation of student work, usually with an accompanying piece of written work; explanation and defense by a student of his or her work
City as a Classroom- projects and trips designed to help students learn from them.
Senior Exit Portfolio- graduation requirement for 12th grade seniors
¬    Passage Portfolio- a series of exercises that a student traverses to progress to a new division.

Essential Skills- habits of the mind; communication skills
Inquiry- organizing curriculum around questions and investigation

Pre-Internships- periods of work that are designed around learning through experience

Just Beginning/Approaches/Meets/Exceeds- how a student’s work is judged against the standards of her division, indicating where she is in her progress towards a Passage.

Peer mediation-venue for allowing students to resolve conflicts through communication.
¬    Justice Committee (JC)- similar to the CC in representation but different in purpose; they make decisions on student disciplinary issues and serve as the judicial branch of Foundation Academy governance.

“Less is More”- the idea that one learns deeply by spending significant time on a relatively narrow subject, then applying its insights
¬    Personal Learning Plan (PLP)- a student’s individual academic and social goals for a certain period of time, worked out with his or her parents and advisor as a guide to his or her work

Personalization- the assumption that each student will thrive best if taught in the what that are most effective for her or him

TFA Senior- what an admirable graduate of The Foundation Academy would “look like,” then building a backward plan for 12 years to progress to TFA senior status.
Process portfolio or note book- A place to keep work in progress or completed, a place to keep work that might be used for the portfolio.

Portfolio- a collection of one’s written, oral (audio and videotapes) and artistic work, that includes a cover letter which has an introduction and reflection combined, available for assessment.

Senior Portfolio- A show case of the resulting work of a TFA senior.
Protocol- a step-by-step tool for examining problems or dilemmas arising from teachers’ and students’ work

Reflection- looking back on an experience to decide what it means, usually done in journals and in cover letters
¬    Roundtables- small discussions, especially used by individual students and teachers presenting their work to their peers
Rubrics- guides for students in determining how they have attained the expectations for work within a skill area
Community Outreach- work for others or for the environment that emphasizes the social and academic benefits the worker as well as for those being helped
Socratic Seminar- discussions based on commonly known texts that emphasize wide participation
¬    Benchmark- agreed-upon goals in various skill areas that are appropriate for all students; also refers to goals set for an individual student for a particular reason
¬    Task Forces- small groups of faculty and students gathered for purposeful and specific work
¬    Tune- the habit of asking clarifying questions and giving warm and cool feedback when assessing another person’s ideas or work
Workshops- classes with intense instruction and practice of specific skills