Choice Schools Associates is looking for collaborators! Are you an environmental, Montessori, scholar, or classical school? We would love to connect, be a resource, learn, and brainstorm with you! Learn more about our models and how we can collaborate together today!
We have developed specialized model teams to fit our schools’ unique needs. By focusing on what sets our schools apart, we are able to amplify the great work happening, resulting in outstanding, mission-focused education for students. Keep reading to learn more about our unique models below and how we can work together to enhance charter schools throughout the state of Michigan!
Environmental Schools Model
The Environmental School’s education takes place inside or outside typical classroom walls. It focuses on the importance of place–where students study the integration and interdependence of their environment to solve real-world problems. In addition to classroom-based instruction, students apply language arts, mathematics, social studies, 
science and other subjects to propose solutions to big issues. By engaging in their local environment, heritage, cultures, and landscapes, students learn to embrace multiple viewpoints while pursuing the greater good. At our Environmental Schools, students thrive and excel in learning from real-life experiences. One might see students learning math outdoors by measuring the circumference of trees or measuring the area of a forest and connecting this data to the health of the community as a whole. Real-life examples of science and biology come to life as students take water samples from a river or raise their own trout and analyze the economic and social implications of human interaction with the environment. Environmental Schools develop successful students and responsible, conscientious adults.
Environmentally-focused traditional schools we serve include:
- Lake Superior Academy*
- New Branches Charter School Academy
- West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science
- Muskegon Montessori Academy for Environmental Change*
*Montessori curriculum
Click here to collaborate with our Environmental Schools!
Montessori Schools Model
Montessori education is a child-centered approach to human development. Founded by
Dr. Maria Montessori, the Montessori Method believes in the child’s innate desire to learn and focuses on building an ideal environment where students develop global perspectives that recognize the power of peace and compassion. By presenting children with information, materials, and engaging problems, students are encouraged to pursue their interests and spend time developing expertise in any number of areas. Montessori places a high value on all aspects of the child–their intellectual, emotional, social, physical and moral development and works with the child to develop their own plans for work, allowing them to make choices while guiding them in exploring new interests and talents. The Montessori classroom looks very different from a traditional classroom; students can move around the room more freely, spend time on a project with peers, or curl up with a great book in a reading corner. Children love the peaceful classroom setting and develop the interpersonal skills necessary to maintain the learning environment. The multi-age format allows children to learn without competition–accelerating or taking their time according to their developmental stage and building a classroom community that feels like family. The Montessori Method is recognized in the world over for having inspired some of the greatest minds of the modern world.
Montessori schools we serve include:
- Creative Montessori Academy
- Battle Creek Montessori Academy
- Four Corners Montessori Academy
- Lake Superior Academy*
- Macomb Montessori Academy
- Muskegon Montessori Academy for Environmental Change*
*Environmentally-focused
Click here to collaborate with our Montessori Schools!
Scholars Schools Model
The heart and soul of the Scholar Schools model is grounded in social justice. It recognizes that traditional public school districts have failed many of these students and it respects family’s desire and motivation to seek the best education for their children. 
The Scholar School model focuses on the dignity of students by providing respectful tasks focused on learning, regardless of the student’s background; it provides structure through a cohesive curriculum that expects mastery in math, reading, writing, science and social studies. Woven into this rigorous academic work are culturally, socially and emotionally responsive practices that value students’ needs and talents to build their personal agency and grit. Teachers in Scholar Schools are supported through collegial work environments that use research, reflection and the talent of the team to get all of our scholars prepared for college and career.
Scholar schools we serve include:
Click here to collaborate with our Scholar Schools!
Classical Schools Model
Classical Schools are named as such because they are modeled on the classical liberal arts curriculum that rose from the Greeks and resulted in highly regarded practices such as the Socratic Method. Classical schools are unique among school choice options for three main reasons – a virtuous education, a content-rich curriculum, and a traditional classroom environment. Classical educators believe that students need an intentional and consistent focus on virtue and this drives the approach which is focused on inquiry 
and philosophy. At classical schools, high academic achievement, personal discipline, moral character and responsibility are consistently reinforced through the study of subjects in the classical tradition. Through a classical education, students learn about historical events, characters, stories, fables, myths, scientific facts, and mathematical proofs. A classical classroom prioritizes the authority of the teacher and relies on their expertise to deliver content and drive students to form opinions and defend those opinions through scholarship, research, debate, and excellent communication. Students are not passive recipients of knowledge, but active participants in the discussion, wholly engaged in dialogue around issues that remain contemporary in their enduring complexity.
Classical schools we serve:
*Will Carleton Academy is defined by its back to basics school approach.