VISION
Engaging Responsible, Interdependent Life-Long Learners, who are College and Career-Ready, to Lead Lives of Meaningful Contribution.
MISSION
LEADERSHIP is the unique opportunity offered to Ivy Hall students. As we develop leadership attributes, we learn who we are, we find our passions, we develop our character, and begin to use our voice to contribute to the world. Learning leadership teaches students to be self-reflective in their thoughts and actions, to continually course correct, and thereby learn from experience the great responsibility of leadership.
LEADERSHIP is a process. The journey of leadership is the process by which we as teachers, administrators, students and parents pursue excellence—a process of continued growth and improvement. Together we strive for excellence in education, excellence in spirit, and excellence in service. It is the very nature of leadership to learn, to change, and to give back. Leadership cannot be taught without first being lived. As we seek to lead each other, we must first lead ourselves in righteous living, being true to that which we espouse.
LEADERSHIP is strength in humility. Humility binds leadership to learning. Without humility, learning ceases. The more we open our hearts, minds, and circles to learn from others, the greater our capacity to lead. As our world grows increasingly smaller, our reach grows increasingly larger—ever learning, forever leading.
Believing every child can be a leader, creating the environment, and engaging students, faculty, community, and curriculum in that belief is the mission of Ivy Hall Academy.
CORE VALUES
Interdependence
We believe in providing our students with the skills and habits that foster both independent and collaborative learning in order to develop a lifelong love of learning.
Integration
Because students have many different learning styles, cross-curricula integration of themes and ideas helps produce a more well-rounded student.
Integrity
Living the value of integrity reminds students that reaching for their personal best in all aspects of their lives, includes a devotion to honesty and doing what they believe is right academically, socially, and spiritually.
Inclusion
A culture of acceptance and inclusion irrespective of race, religion, or background promotes both a safe and reassuring learning environment.
Influence
Our focus on building leaders provides our students with a blueprint to being an influence for good throughout the world.
Innovation
Partnerships with institutions of higher education, conferences, workshops and research keep our teachers, administration, curriculum and techniques on the cutting edge of innovation for the success of our students in a competitive global environment.
Educational Philosophy
What We Believe About Learning
Faith
Ivy Hall Academy recognizes the importance of faith to a person’s well being. Spirituality has a profound positive impact on children’s psychological development and fosters community and cooperation. To this end, we are an all-faiths school where people from different faith traditions are able to appreciate their common spirituality.
With faith at the core, we foster four key pillars in our students:
Scholarship
Rigorous academic learning and growth are achieved through Socratic and project-based learning and a challenging curriculum. Socratic learning is the oldest, and one of the most powerful, teaching methods for fostering critical thinking. Students are given a series of questions, rather than answers to develop an inquiring, probing mind. Project-based learning is a student-centered, dynamic classroom approach where students acquire deeper knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges and problems. Each year, our students focus on answering a school-wide driving question and a curriculum-specific essential question. Classes research, discuss, and analyze text and other material to help broaden their perspectives and shift their paradigms as they dive deep into these questions. Our challenging curriculum begins with teaching a grade level ahead in all classes; leveled learning in math and language arts ensures students learn at their optimum pace.
Leadership
Integrating and implementing time-honored leadership principles is accomplished through The Leader in Me® program. Content from Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a key component of the overall The Leader in Me process, which teaches 21st century leadership and life skills to students and creates a culture of student empowerment based on the idea that every child can be a leader. Timeless principles of personal and interpersonal effectiveness, such as responsibility, vision, integrity, teamwork, collaboration and renewal, become the “common language” of our community.
Citizenship
Inspiring service through global and community awareness includes monthly services projects, in-depth geography and cultural studies programs, and national and international studies tours. Ivy Hall students have traveled to the northeast and southeast United States to understand the foundations of our country, and explored Mexico, Italy, Peru, China, Egypt, Jordan, Vietnam, and Cambodia to gain a global perspective and provide resources to local schools. Providing opportunities to look outside oneself is crucial to our students’ “leading lives of meaningful contribution.”
Entrepreneurship
Finding our voices and helping others find theirs is the culmination of The Leader in Me® program and the hallmark of entrepreneurship at Ivy Hall. Crucial skills are developed through a tech-based collaboration lab, coding, app, and web development courses, and a “Shark Tank” experience. Business leaders visit as guest lecturers to inspire and act as role models. Our entrepreneurial focus enables students to be college and career-ready as innovators who have the opportunity to change lives.
Small Class Size
At Ivy Hall, the sole focus is on the individual student experience. In order to ensure each student develops to the highest level they can, we keep our class sizes small to maximize student-teacher interactions and allow for group discussions where every child participates.
Math Advancement
We work to help our students outperform their peers in mathematics through innovative and arduous math curriculum that prepares our students to be grade levels higher in math than their peers.
We Develop Leaders
We subscribe to Franklin Covey’s “The Leader in Me” school transformation process. It teaches 21st century leadership and life skills to students and creates a culture of student empowerment based on the idea that every child can be a leader.
Covey’s “7 Habits” guide both teachers and students in the classroom and play an important role in shaping children in every aspect of their lives.
Positive Learning Environment
Success is not only measured in academics at Ivy Hall, but also in a student’s ability to empathize and relate to their fellow students. We encourage students to build each other up and conduct their studies in a positive and supportive learning environment.
Ivy Hall Academy was founded by James Lindahl and Alan Osmond in 1988. Both wanted a safe educational environment for their children entering junior high. The school began with 12 students and 3 years later expanded to include preschool through eighth grade.
For the next eight years, students enjoyed rigorous academics as well as swimming, tennis, racquetball, and track. At that time, the building was sold and the school relocated to west Provo where it stayed for the next 25 years. In August of 2020, Ivy Hall moved to its current location at Vintage Park in northeast Provo and is now a Preschool – 12th grade school.
From its inception to the present, the school has enabled greatness by combining challenging academics, the arts, and leadership. Each year the curriculum is evaluated and improved. Excellent teachers influence the love of learning. Our well-rounded students go on to contribute to society and live successful, happy lives.
Ivy Hall Academy is accredited by Cognia™, a member of the Utah Private Schools Association, and a Leader In Me™ school.
At Ivy Hall Academy, we are engaging interdependent life-long learners, who are college and career-ready to lead lives of meaningful contribution.