New Hope Academy High School

A private high school near Washington, D.C. (Prince George's county, MD)

Our Goals

One of New Hope Academy's greatest strengths is the fact that because we are a smaller school, we are able to individualize the educational program in order to better meet the unique nature, goals, and needs of each student. This is especially true at New Hope Academy High School, a small private high school near Washington, D.C. (in Landover Hills, Prince George's county, MD) dedicated to academic excellence, personal attention, and character-building in a college prep high school.

New Hope Academy is committed to making school a meaningful and enriching experience for all students. To best support our students' high school experience we have several very innovative programs. For example, from fifth grade on, students are tested and placed in math classes that allow them to move at an accelerated, regular, or slower pace, depending on their abilities. Also, to prepare for a challenging college preparatory high school program, eighth graders are taught by the high school teachers with specializations in their curriculum fields, and classes are designed with a similar structure and format as high school.

Research indicates that one of the most difficult years for many students is the senior year of high school, when many students are either bored, or in the rut of "senior-itis"; thus they tend to do very little work. To make the senior year a meaningful and productive time, New Hope Academy offers a wide variety of options.

The first allows for students to complete high school by the end of eleventh grade, provided they complete all regular class work successfully and take one additional English course during this period. This is an excellent option for students who wish to enter trade or technical schools, community colleges, theology programs, or military service. It may be an option for four-year college bound students as well, provided the colleges of their choice have no objections.

A second option is for student to take some or all of their courses in their senior year at the local community college and receive concurrent high school credit. This is an excellent option as it allows the student to gain experience and confidence to handle the academic rigors of college courses and schedules while still under the guidance and daily support of their parents.

Another option is to complete required senior coursework either at New Hope Academy or via community college classes, and to participate in an internship related to an area of the student's career interest. New Hope students have interned in elementary education, technology, government, photography, and business. Options are very broad and can be dictated by interest and opportunity. Some students also may elect to complete course work in the morning hours and work a job in the afternoons to gain work experience or earn money for college.

High school students want and need to feel empowered to begin to make significant life choices and to take on adult responsibilities. These options provide them with excellent opportunities to do so, while allowing for parental input in the context of a strong, supportive, educational environment.

Our Program

New Hope High Academy School allows for significant individual attention for each student. Smaller class size enables the high school to do exciting, relevant learning projects such as: designing a garden, researching appropriate plantings, testing soil content and writing grant proposals for the project for Environmental Science; rebuilding computers, learning CPR and how to balance a check book in Life Skills; publishing a monthly school newsletter and making a school yearbook where skills of photography, editing, layout, scanning and design are learned. Each student makes a valuable contribution to shape the program. Students' personal interests can even influence the direction of the school's curriculum.

At New Hope we have a tradition of incorporating field trips into our monthly activities. This enables us to take advantage of the rich cultural, historic, civic, and ethnic resources in the Washington metro area. The entire community becomes a classroom outside of the school walls.

Through tasks involving cooperative learning and projects, high school students learn how to work with others. Students are responsible for many individual projects and presentations, giving them opportunities to monitor themselves on deadlines and practice presentation skills before a group.

Students read, analyze, and discuss literature, discovering their personal preferences in writing styles and interests along the way. Homework is required on a daily basis, and students are working on at least one long-term project at any given time. Students are tested and placed in math according to ability level, and follow a rigorous curriculum, often with tutorial-based instruction.

New Hope Academy High School engages students in hands-on involvement with science. Students don't just study science - they DO science. Concepts taught in history and the social sciences are similar to those in survey courses at a college level, but with age-appropriate writing projects and tests. Specialty classes are available in fine arts, health, life skills, foreign language, physical education, and computer instruction. Committed to technological proficiency, New Hope teaches students to utilize technology as a tool integrating computer skills into life and work. Our students come to know the value of the greater community through service at the school in the mentoring of the younger students, and service to the larger community in other ways.

Character is a prime criteria for success at New Hope Academy and weighs heavily in admitting students. We seek students who are service-oriented, who demonstrate civic and moral virtue, and who can set an exemplary standard as role models in the school. Students with serious behavioral and discipline problems will not be given consideration.

Admission requirements

Students will be chosen to enter our program based on testing in core subjects, a written essay, previous report cards and standardized testing, questionnaires, recommendations from former teachers and school principals, and a personal interview with the admissions team. Generally, a minimum of a C average is required for admission.

New Hope Academy provides students with a clear educational atmosphere, where they can spend their energies focused on learning. At New Hope there is a structured, safe environment with solid support for the development of an individual's personal ethics and morals. Many graduates from New Hope Academy Middle School have said that the intimate personal experience of the school taught them how to relate to many different types of people, people they might never have come to know if they had been in a large school where they could choose to relate only to other students like themselves. New Hope Academy High School offers a foundation for young adults to acquire habits of lifelong learning as well as the ability to make successful family and career choices.

There shall be no discrimination on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin in the admission of children, in the employment of faculty, or in the administration of policies.

Go to the "meet the high school teachers" page.
See the high school curricula outlines.