Roots International Academy is a small 6-8 middle school at the shared Havenscourt site. Our motto is I know where I come from, I know where I'm going. Our goal is to create an enriching educational environment where students learn respect and appreciation for culture and diversity. At RIA students reach academic excellence by engaging in hands-on activities that teach skills, content, and critical thinking. To build students� passion for learning we include cultural topics, music, dance, experiments, and projects into our lessons. We provide after school opportunities where students will have access to tutoring, and other enrichment experiences such as sports, photography, dance, art, etc. Our small environment allows us to know every student personally. Knowing each child allows us to monitor their academic success and maintain a safe and orderly campus. Ultimately, we aim to produce students with high academic achievement who are self confident, responsible and respectful.

RIA aims to develop students' sense of community and social responsibility. We believe that students must see how education is directly related to the positive impact they can have on our society. At Roots International Academy our focus is high academic achievement. We believe that students do their best when they are motivated and confident. To help students' succeed we have an academic program that builds on students strengths:

• Students engage in work that brings their cultures, families, and experiences into the classroom.
• Students engage in hands-on activities, experiments, projects to gain a deeper understanding of the information.
• Students are allowed to explore and discover their interest.
• Art, music, drama, etc. are incorporated into Math, English, Science, and History Students are taught to be thinkers.
• They learn critical thinking and problem solving skills.
• We provide tutoring and intervention based on individual student needs.

RIA will provide our students and families with resources and experiences that support their academic growth, promote social responsibility, and expose them to experiences that broaden their horizons. Our focus is on improving reading, writing, and mathematics through real world and cultural experiences. All of our students experiences in and outside of school will contain an academic component which requires research, writing, and connections to academic content areas. We envision opportunities for our students to:

• Take cultural and historical trips
• Have access to experts in various fields of study such as science, arts, etc.
• Visit college campuses
• Design, implement, or participate in community service projects
• Work with mentors and tutors to improve reading and math scores