Upon arrival, many of our children come with different levels of educational aptitudes—ranging from the gifted, average, to one-two years behind grade level. The Eagle Ranch School (ERS), accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), was formed to help meet the educational needs of our middle school students through an enriched and rigorous program for the gifted, and an “adaptive curriculum” to help ‘catch up’ those struggling academically.
ERS provides students with an academically concentrated program that has an exceptionally low teacher-to-student ratio – one teacher and one para-professional for every 12 children. Currently, our children in elementary school and grades 10-12 attend local public schools. In addition, ERS provides after-school tutorial assistance as well as acceleration strategies for specific skills to meet students at their point(s) of academic need.
The Eagle Ranch School
The Eagle Ranch School for grades 6-9 is focused on preparing students for their future. We incorporate best practices recognized by leaders in education as the most effective methods for helping children learn:
- Pre-testing and post-testing each school year to identify each child’s strengths and weaknesses and measure academic gains
- Individualized and creative differentiated instruction geared to the child’s needs
- Modifying the classroom environment to provide an optimum educational experience for the child’s need.
The school is structured to deliberately give our students opportunities to develop key life skills necessary for them to be successful:
- Strong work ethic
- Organizational skills
- Interpersonal communication skills
- Responsibility
- Resourcefulness
Beyond helping our children improve their academic performance, we create a school culture and environment that gives our children a safe learning environment and a prospect to envision success that they would seldom gain in larger school settings.
In an analysis of the school, a national education consultant made the following observation:
“Although academic achievement is usually the standard of relevance in educational programs, the Eagle Ranch program seems to provide an even greater benefit in the development of self-confidence, study and social skills, and the instilling of the value of education in the students.”
Partnering with Public Schools
Eagle Ranch also maintains a close partnership with the neighboring Hall County School System, working with an excellent elementary and high school team of teachers and school counselors to support students from Eagle Ranch with their academic performance and behavioral skills.
Our School’s Mission
The underlying premise of all school activities is to help our children become internally motivated to succeed and to build their self-confidence. We want to prepare them for whatever their next step may be after leaving the Ranch: returning to public/private school, entering college or joining the work force.
