Encouraged by a culture of honing student leadership skills and developing social conscience, students at Self Development Academy (SDA) are encouraged to identify their areas of interest and pursue them with passion.
Examples of student initiative projects addressing their academic curiosity, community service and leadership abilities are present throughout the school community, in all grades. Not only do a large number of students participate in the annual Science Fair, but they also create various groups to serve different needs of the school or larger community.
Included among the many student initiated service groups are fund-raising campaigns, such as Smash Cancer, Save the Animals, Be Kind to Your Friends and Help Youngsters with Homework. A sense of responsibility to the community begins to surface as early as our lower elementary grades, when younger students look for ways to help their world.
SDA has consistently been ranked among the top 10 elementary and junior high schools in the state. The success of SDA students is due to a visionary leader, Dr. Anjum Majeed, superintendent of Self Development Academy, together with dedicated faculty and staff, supportive parents and hard working, diligent students.
Students learn a minimum of one year ahead of the Arizona Academic Standards. A strong academic foundation, especially in language arts and mathematics, is established during the elementary school years.
Junior high school students, ages 10 through 14, complete Pre-Algebra through Algebra II, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and high school level Social Studies and Language Arts coursework. In addition to obtaining a strong academic foundation, students gain necessary organizational and study habits for success in high school and beyond.
SDA students are encouraged to pursue their academic and extracurricular interests. The annual Science Fair, an optional event for grades two through five (mandatory for junior high), is one example of this type of opportunity. Many students are excited to participate in the Science Fair, since science, including science labs, is a regular part of the SDA curriculum beginning in grade one. This year, more than 150 students participated in the event. Topics included the areas of chemistry, physics, biology, aerodynamics and biomimicry.
The Science Fair requires students to develop a hypothesis and to complete an experiment. A lab report, including research, hypothesis, method, materials and results, as well as a tri-fold poster, are required. During the event, students field questions from teachers, parents and fellow students. Junior high students explain their experiments to judges. This year’s winning projects included DNA extraction, beetle-inspired water collection, glucose levels of fruit, a zebra-striped cooling system, color’s impact on memory, catapulting and concentrations of smell.
In addition to the Science Fair, students are encouraged to pursue their extracurricular activities and passions. This school year, five groups of students have proposed projects to Dr. Majeed.
One such project is Cancer Kidz. Inspired by personal family experiences with cancer, three junior high students, Emma Wolfe, Erica Fink and Paisen Alder, created Cancer Kidz to raise money for cancer research and cancer support groups for children diagnosed with cancer. The students, along with the support of the student government, have sponsored several events and raised more than $1,200.
Bronson Staley, a grade two student, was moved to better the school campus by promoting recycling. In an inspiring letter to Dr. Majeed, he requested permission to lead his class in a poster campaign encouraging the school community to pick up trash and recycle. Now, posters from his class are present throughout the campus.
Emmalee Sclease and Megan Parr are promoting and developing a project to care for abandoned pets and other animals. The girls are deciding if they wish to collect donations to help abandon pets and animals or care for abandoned pets. Outside sponsors are willing to support their project.
Junior high students, Maci Parker, Mackenzie Perry, Rylie Campoy, Cassie Rascon and Lizzy Dyslin, are passionate about kind treatment to others within the school community. Leaders in the junior high program, they serve as examples of their motto to be kind, considerate and polite to all. They address the issue of bullying.
Jordan Husted and Jade Medina, grade eight students, are leading a group of students who tutor students in the lower grades. The younger students are excited to have older students reading with them and helping them with math facts. Other grade eight students recruited for the tutoring group are Alex Burdick, Gurshant Grewal, Danny Elsberry, Dylan Jones and John Andrus.
These projects bolster the self-confidence of students, enhance their writing and presentation skills and create a lot of energy among the school campus, sparking creativity and areas of interest for other students.
For more information regarding Self Development Academy, or to arrange a tour, please contact the front office at (480) 641-2640. Limited spaces are available for the 2016-2017 school year.