Author: Rose Academies

building skills outside of the classroom

Learning Happens Everywhere: Skills You Build Outside the Classroom

Written by Rose Academies on July 18, 2025. Posted in Charter Schools, College, The Art of Learning.

While academic subjects are essential, many valuable skills are developed in everyday life. Whether you’re at home, working a part-time job, helping with family responsibilities, or simply pursuing a personal interest, you’re still growing in ways that matter.

Time Management and Responsibility

Planning your day, showing up to commitments, and balancing different responsibilities all teach time management. These skills are just as important for academic success as they are for life after high school. Learning how to set priorities and follow through is something you practice every day, not just during school hours.

Communication and Collaboration

Whether you’re talking with family members, working with others at a job, or participating in a group activity, you’re building communication skills. You learn how to listen, respond, share ideas, and solve problems together. These real-world interactions prepare you for success in college, careers, and relationships.

Problem-Solving and Creativity

Life often requires quick thinking and flexibility. Figuring out how to fix something at home, adjusting plans when things don’t go as expected, or finding a creative way to complete a project, these moments sharpen your problem-solving abilities and encourage innovation.

Self-Motivation and Independence

When you take initiative on your own, whether it’s starting a new hobby, practicing a skill, or staying committed to a personal goal, you’re building independence. At the Rose Academies, we emphasize self-paced learning, and that mindset can carry over into everything you do. Motivation that comes from within is one of the strongest predictors of long-term success.

Leadership and Confidence

Helping others, managing responsibilities, and speaking up when it matters all contribute to leadership growth. These are qualities that are often developed outside of structured lessons. Leading by example and learning from everyday experiences builds confidence and helps students grow into capable, thoughtful individuals.

More Than Just a School

At the Rose Academies, we support students not only in the classroom, but also in becoming independent, capable individuals ready for what’s next. By recognizing the skills they are already developing in daily life, students can see how much progress they are truly making, even when school is not in session.

Looking to build on those real-world skills? We’re here to support your journey, every step of the way. Visit our website to learn more about how the Rose Academies help students learn, grow, and thrive.

Personal Responsibility and Academic Freedom: Finding the Balance

Written by Rose Academies on July 18, 2025. Posted in Tips.

At the Rose Academies, students are given something many traditional schools don’t provide: the freedom to move at their own pace. With that freedom comes a powerful opportunity to build personal responsibility, a skill that is just as important as any subject.

When students have more control over their schedules and progress, they also take on more ownership of their learning. That kind of independence doesn’t just prepare students for high school success. It lays the foundation for confidence, time management, and self-discipline beyond graduation.

The Freedom to Choose

One of the biggest advantages of the Rose Academies’ model is flexibility. Students have the ability to work ahead in subjects they find easier and take extra time with those that are more challenging. This allows each student to build a path that fits their needs, not one that follows a rigid timeline. That flexibility empowers students to make choices that come with real-life consequences and rewards.

Why Responsibility Matters

Academic freedom means very little without follow-through. That’s where personal responsibility comes in. Students must decide when and how to engage with their work, how to ask for help when needed, and how to manage their time effectively. These are not just school habits, they are life habits. Students who develop responsibility in a flexible learning environment become better equipped to handle the freedom that comes with college, employment, and adulthood.

Learning to Self-Monitor

At the Rose Academies, students are encouraged to regularly check in with their own progress. Are goals being met? Is something falling behind? Do priorities need to shift? This kind of self-awareness and adjustment is a key part of long-term success. Our staff is here to support and teach that process, but we also encourage students to take the lead in managing their academic paths.

Building Skills for Life

The balance between personal responsibility and academic freedom is not always easy to find, but it is one of the most valuable lessons a student can learn. At the Rose Academies, our goal is to help each student grow into a person who will take initiative, make decisions, and keep moving forward.

Check out our website to learn more about how the Rose Academies help students become more independent, capable learners.

Is Remote Learning Bad?: Effects on High School Students

Written by Rose Academies on July 25, 2022. Posted in Online Learning.

Like it, many students have been forced to become remote learning experts in recent years. Criticisms of remote learning include it being confusing, prone to technical issues, and just downright boring compared to being in a traditional classroom, but many students found upsides as well. Ease of teacher communication, a more self-paced learning environment, and less time wasted between passing periods and study halls were often reported as positives in the new learning environment. So, is remote learning all that bad after all?

Many remote lessons were procured in advance, allowing students to pause, go back, and generally move through the material at their own pace. A student could more easily take breaks when needed while simultaneously not being required to waste time with passing periods or lunch hours. Many students enjoyed the autonomy over their own school schedules that remote learning provided. Rose Academies allows you to move online and in person at your pace.

Alternatively, the isolation and difficulty focusing that often accompanied learn-from-home life were not so well-received. Students missed face-to-face peer and teacher interaction. Raising your hand to clarify a point in a lesson became a thing of the past. Signing into online classes without actually being “there” for the class or letting it run in the background became a daily occurrence, and without much accountability, many students fell behind.

We prefer to offer the best of both worlds at the Rose Academies. Students come to school in person but have a dedicated computer workstation. Students choose from three session times throughout the day, from 7 am-12 pm, 12 pm-5 pm, or 5 pm-10 pm, without required passing periods or study halls. Students’ work is self-paced but not self-taught, with online and person-to-person communication with instructors.

Retain the flexible, self-paced nature of remote learning while enjoying the ease of communication and a focused, dedicated learning environment at the Rose Academies. Visit our website to learn more and enroll today!

The New SAT Changes: What You Need to Know

Written by Rose Academies on June 29, 2022. Posted in Rose News.

The SAT is one of the most well-known national standardized tests, with over two million students taking it every year. Recently, the College Board announced that the SAT is undergoing some changes starting in 2024. As students and parents, it’s essential to understand these changes and how they will affect you or your child.

The team at Rose Academies is here to talk about the most recent SAT changes. We will talk about how the SAT is changing and how that affects studying and taking the SAT. We will also talk about tips for approaching the newest iteration of the standardized test.

As an exemplary charter school in Tucson, Rose Academies strives to provide personalized educational solutions to help you reach your goals. Contact us today to talk about our programs and enrollment!

What’s Different About the New SAT?

The new test will keep the original 1,600-point scale and three categories of mathematics, reading comprehension, and writing. However, several smaller modifications make the test more accessible and approachable for students.

Digital Format

One of the most significant changes to the SAT is a switch to an adaptive digital format. The new test will take student performance into account when assigning further questions. In addition, the new digital format will allow students to take the exam on their personal laptops or computing devices, as well as school-owned devices.

The point of the digital format is to make the test more accessible to students. Additionally, the new format has safeguards to prevent data loss in case of a power outage or internet failure.

Calculator Use

The old SAT exam divides the mathematics category into two sections—one with a calculator and one without. New SAT changes will allow a calculator for the entire mathematics section, not just one half.

The new rules allow students to use their personal graphing calculator or an embedded one in the exam dashboard. Graphing calculators are expensive and can cost upwards of $200 for new models, so the rule change serves to reduce test-taking barriers.

Faster Results

It could take two to three weeks for test scores to arrive for previous tests. The new format expedites the reporting process, so students get results in a few days rather than a few weeks.

The College Board will also change information on score reports. They plan to include information about workforce training, community college opportunities, and traditional four-year university options.

Shorter Test Times

The new rules also aim to reduce test times from three hours to approximately two by changing the structure of test sections. For example, the new test will have shorter passages in the reading section and reduce the number of questions per passage.

In addition, the digital format means proctors won’t have to spend time passing out testing materials and documents.

Why Do These SAT Changes Matter?

The SAT changes are not just for show but serve to make the test more fair and approachable for students.

It’s Adaptive

The adaptive nature of the test means that it can be shorter while maintaining an appropriate difficulty curve for individual students. Subsequent questions depend on the student’s previous answers, and the test provides more challenging questions until a student gets one wrong.

The reason for this change is to prevent students from spending too much or too little time on difficult and easy questions, respectively. The adaptive structure also makes question sets more coherent and consistently increases the difficulty.

It’s Shorter

The new test also condenses and streamlines the reading and math sections, so the overall test takes less time for students and educators. The digital format also removes the need for proctors to distribute and collect test documents and materials. Students can get into the room faster and take the test quicker.

It’s More Accessible

The new SAT is still not a take-home test, but it will be much easier for students to attend and for educators to administer. Districts won’t have to worry about ordering paper testing supplies, and students can use personal computers to take the test. Students will also get their score reports faster for college applications.

Why Did The College Board Make These Changes?

The reputation of the SAT as a “high-stakes” exam means that many students feel excessive pressure to perform well. Preliminary trials of the new testing structure show that nearly four out of five students find the new shorter digital format less stressful than the older paper version.

Given the prevalence of virtual schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic, students are already used to digital exams. Further, experts believe that these changes can make the test easier to take for students without reliable transportation or in rural areas.

Lastly, the switch to digital format reduces the burden on educators of proctoring the exam. The old exam requires significant preparation, and school districts can have trouble finding enough staff. Shorter test times and the lower administrative burden of the digital format will likely increase testing opportunities in student areas.

When Do These New Changes Go Into Effect?

The College Board will not implement these changes for a few years, so current high school students should prepare for the traditional test. The College Board will implement PSAT changes in October 2023 and SAT changes in spring 2024. However, they will change the international test format in spring 2023.

The good news is that younger students have ample time to prepare for the new testing format. The College Board provides free preparation resources for all students. Rose Academies will update our resources to include SAT prep materials for the new examination format.

Preparing for the New SAT

Although many schools are omitting SAT or ACT requirements from the admissions process, most educational experts still recommend high schoolers take the SAT or ACT if possible. Standardized test scores may differentiate your college applications from others, and including good test scores will never hurt your application.

Test preparation options include courses, private tutoring, and self-guided online study. The College Board will also provide free test preparation materials and study guides on its website. Below are some extra tips on how students can prepare for the new SAT changes.

Get a Head Start

Your junior and senior years have a full schedule, so you need to plan things around preparing for the SAT. We recommend picking a test date so that you have at least three months to prepare. The earlier you start, the sooner you’ll inculcate your studying habits and the less cramming you’ll have to do. If you start studying earlier, you’ll feel less stress and more confidence during the test.

Do Practice Exams

One of the best ways to prepare for the SAT is to take a full-length practice exam. You can find practice exams online at the College Board’s website and take them under the same time constraints. Studies show that practice exam results strongly predict actual SAT results and help students overcome test anxiety.

Practice exams also help you identify weak points to improve with studying. We recommend that you simulate the actual conditions of the test for your practice exams. Start at 8 AM and follow time limits for each section, taking breaks when scheduled. Most importantly, taking practice exams will make you more confident as you’ll know what to expect on test day.

Use Test Prep Materials

The College Board offers official SAT prep materials through its partnership with Khan Academy. Materials include study plans and guides for both the ACT and SAT. Many test prep programs will tailor materials based on your past PSAT scores to provide an individualized study guide.

You should spend at least 20 hours studying for your first SAT attempt, including at least one three to four-hour practice exam. Use your practice exam results to tailor future study sessions and focus on weak areas.

Prepare for Test Day

It helps to know exactly what to expect on the actual test day. Familiarize yourself with the testing location and make sure you have directions. You should consider scoping out parking beforehand, so you don’t waste time on test day.

Eat a full breakfast the morning of the test, and don’t spend the previous night cramming. Cramming the night before is a surefire way to make yourself stressed and tired the following day. Decompress the night before so you can wake up rested and relaxed.

Leading Charter School in Tucson

As the premier non-traditional charter school in Tucson, Rose Academies’ core values revolve around individual learning experiences. We strive to find educational solutions that traditional schooling systems cannot provide. As the College Board implements new SAT changes, we will update our strategies to maximize students’ chances of success both academically and professionally.

Check out our blog to learn more study tips! If you want to learn more about our school and enrollment, contact us online or call us at (520) 797-4884! We look forward to hearing from you and helping you or your child achieve their educational goals!

Students using a computer lab with the help of teaching staff.

Why Charter Schools are Best for Your Child’s Education

Written by Rose Academies on February 16, 2022. Posted in Finding The Right School.

The enrollment rate at charter schools continues to increase steadily every year. For example, there was an increase from 1% to 6% between fall 2000 and fall 2007 by the number of public school students who attended public charter schools. Here are the top five benefits why charter schools are the best choice for your child’s education.

Real-World Learning

Traditional public schools might be rigid, meaning they rarely deviate from the approved curriculum. Even the best high schools can fall victim to this rigidity. Charter school teachers are offered greater flexibility to adapt the curriculum to real-world skills. You might hear educational terms like “project-based learning,” “blended learning,” “career and college ready,” and “authentic learning.” These are terms used at charter schools to mean your child is being prepared for success beyond the classroom setting.

Reduced Class Size

Charter schools have smaller class sizes than traditional public schools. This allows your child to have more one on one with their teacher. By focusing on individual students’ needs, teachers can ensure that every student receives an equitable education. The best high schools that are also charter schools will place an emphasis on smaller class sizes to ensure every student gets the attention they need.

Parent Involvement and Community Participation

Charter schools are good for parents who desire to be involved in their child’s education. Parental involvement has immense advantages for the parent and child. Your child learns a positive attitude towards studies and progresses further in their education journey. Parents have an opportunity to understand what their children are learning, hence strengthening their relationship with the teachers.

Ability to Specialize

Many charter schools specialize in specific areas such as technology, science, or performing arts. So, students who attend these schools take classes that align with their interests. This results in students being heavily invested in education. Be sure to enroll your child in a charter school that allows them to choose a major they can specialize in and prepare for university and a career.

Accountability

Most parents are attracted to charter schools because they offer more curriculum and managerial freedom than public schools. Increased freedom comes with increased accountability. Charter schools are accountable to parents, students, and the community.

Be sure to enroll your child in a charter school that offers a customized education program. The school should offer a unique environment that emphasizes high academic achievement using state-of-the-art innovations, technology, and proven educational methods. This prepares your child to successfully compete in the competitive post-secondary environment and job market.

Why Small Class Sizes Really Matter: Personalized Learning

Written by Rose Academies on February 4, 2022. Posted in Charter High Schools.

Small class sizes are often cited as one of the most important factors in a student’s education. But what does that mean for students, and does class size really matter? Here we take a closer look at the benefits of smaller class sizes and how they can help your student succeed.

Contact Rose Academy Charter Schools to learn more about the many benefits of small classes for your student.

10 Benefits of Small Class Sizes

Smaller class sizes offer a more personalized learning experience, leading to increased student confidence and higher rates of academic success. In smaller classes, teachers can spend more one-on-one time with each student and provide personalized educational support.

1. More Personalized Learning

Smaller classes lead to more individualized learning. When teachers have the chance to work with each child, they can ensure the material is taught at an appropriate pace for each student’s skill level and understanding of course concepts.

With fewer students, teachers can become familiar with each child’s learning style, making it easier to connect with students.

2. Greater Focus on Learning

In smaller classes, distractions are minimized, allowing students to focus more on their studies. Teachers can manage the classroom more effectively and promptly address any issues that arise.

This focused environment helps students concentrate better and absorb information more efficiently. This setting is particularly beneficial for students who may struggle with concentration in larger, more chaotic public school classrooms.

3. Faster Learning

When class sizes are small, students tend to learn more quickly. Teachers can tailor their instruction to the needs of each student, providing targeted help where needed. Students can progress at their own pace without the hindrances of a one-size-fits-all approach.

Faster learning also allows for more material to be covered in a shorter period, granting students a more in-depth understanding of each subject.

4. Increased Confidence

Small class sizes increase students’ confidence in their abilities by encouraging them to ask questions. Students are more likely to take risks knowing they won’t be holding up the class, allowing them to develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

5. Better Opportunities for Collaboration

One of the most effective ways to learn is by working with others. Small class sizes in charter high schools grant students more opportunities to collaborate with peers on projects, presentations, and other assignments.

When students learn together in small groups, they encourage each other to be creative, fostering a more engaging classroom environment.

6. Encourages More Interaction

Small class sizes encourage more interaction between students and teachers. This increased interaction generates a collaborative learning environment where students feel comfortable asking questions and participating in discussions.

Engagement helps deepen students’ understanding of course material and develops their critical thinking skills. Moreover, students are more likely to form strong relationships with their peers and teachers, creating a supportive community for educational and social growth.

7. Greater One-on-One Time

With increased one-on-one time, qualified teachers can provide personalized feedback and guide students in overcoming learning challenges. This attention ensures that each student’s unique needs are met, promoting their academic growth and confidence.

The opportunity for one-on-one interaction also allows teachers to better understand each student’s learning style and adjust their teaching methods accordingly.

8. Students Are Less Likely to Be Missed

In large classes, it’s easy for some students to fall through the cracks and not receive the attention they need. Class size reduction ensures that every student is seen and heard, creating a supportive learning environment.

Teachers can closely monitor each student’s progress and intervene if they notice any signs of struggle. This proactive approach prevents students from falling behind and ensures that each child stays on track to meet their educational goals.

9. A Better Academic Environment

Smaller classes make it easier for teachers to connect with each student, making them feel more comfortable and involved in the classroom. Individualized instruction and personal attention from teachers also encourages students to focus on learning materials and filter out distractions.

10. Improved Academic Performance

Classes with lower teacher-to-student ratios, preferably 1:15, lead to increased rates of student achievement, higher test scores, and on-time graduation in high school students. Individualized attention from teachers allows students to excel academically. Smaller class sizes, such as those in charter high schools, are also correlated with fewer discipline problems at school.

Sources

Achilles, Charles. “Small Classes, Big Possibilities.” The School Superintendents Association. June 30, 2010. https://www.aasa.org/resources/resource/small-classes-big-possibilities

Berger, Eric. “Does Your Child’s Class Size Matter?” US News & World Report. August 29, 2022. https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/articles/does-your-childs-class-size-matter#:~:text=Reducing%20class%20sizes%20has%20long,scores%20and%20fewer%20disciplinary%20issues.