Gary Lighthouse Charter School-Primary Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school that has served the Gary community since 2005. In 2013, we combined our three K–12 campuses (West Gary Lighthouse, Gary Lighthouse, and East Chicago Lighthouse). Our Primary Academy serves over 300 learners grades K-3.
Our campus receives public funding from federal and state resources. Managed by Lighthouse Academies, we operate under our charter as authorized by the Indiana Charter School Board. This funding fuels our ability to continue offering vital programs that support our literacy-driven curriculum and propel our scholars to meet our expectations that:
Like all Lighthouse Academies, we share a vision for success that reinforces our belief that the 4Cs -curiosity, critical thinking, collaborative problem solving, and creativity-offer a comprehensive approach to learning. Driven by our focus on literacy as the foundation for successful we promise to prioritize clear literacy instruction starting in kindergarten so that by third grade all scholars have both the strong literacy foundation and social-emotional skills to successfully transition to reading to learn. For scholars entering LHA after kindergarten, we guarantee they will meet or exceed grade-level expectations within three years.
At the Primary Academy, our young learners enjoy the following benefits:
We pride ourselves on building healthy, strong relationships with each scholar as well as collaborating with families and community organizations to establish positive and productive partnerships through which our scholars reap benefits well beyond high school.
GLCS-Primary Academy’s culture is rooted in fostering:
We set high academic expectations for our scholars, and that success begins with a strong literacy foundation. Recognizing the importance of setting the right conditions for success in our literacy-driven environment is key to helping scholars meet and exceed these expectations. In primary grades, as students learn how to understand and articulate their thoughts, feelings, and ideas, speaking and listening are core components. To facilitate development of those skills we prioritize the explicit teaching of self-regulation and self-management, using practices such as our six- week culture plan, targeted teaching practices, Habits of Scholars, and a School-Wide Restorative Approach
Our campus believes in the importance of a family-like dynamic in creating an environment that encourages learning. We value parents as partners and believe families are our scholars’ first teachers. Since parents are a key part of our scholars’ success, and we take every opportunity to engage them in their child’s academic and social education. Breaking down the barriers between school and home by welcoming parents into our school community and nurturing our relationships with them creates positive relationships where families are key to the success of our scholars individually and our school community as a whole.
Our culture allows students to develop is steeped processes that proactively provides the extra social support our scholars need to thrive. We recognize that scholars are at different levels of development academically and in their social-emotional development. All Lighthouse Academies work to identify scholars who are struggling socially and provide additional support for these scholars. This support begins in the classroom and may also include additional personnel (e.g., Directors of School Culture, Culture Assistants, social workers) at the school level as needed.
Our teachers work with carefully selected members of a culture team to discuss and report on social-emotional development. Our approach to daily school culture differs from many schools in that rather than reactively responding to specific issues by disciplining or separating scholars from We teach scholars the skills they need to avoid punitive consequences such as separating them from their peers, or out-of-school suspension. While reactive support is occasionally necessary, culture team members spend 75% or more of their time working proactively with scholars individually and in groups on their social-emotional development to prevent negative behavioral reactions rather than reacting to specific behavior once it has occurred. This is a part of our vision to create “Restorative Circles,” based on our belief that belief that mistakes are an inevitable aspect of growth, and that all scholars need opportunities to understand the consequences of their mistakes, and our “What Happened?” framework allows us to identify solutions rather than focusing on blame. Restorative Circles help scholars understand others’ perspectives and give them opportunities to apologize when things go wrong
GLCS-Primary Academy knows that children need a safe environment to learn. Here’s our approach to cultivating our scholar’s sense of safety:
Developing good character is a pillar of a Lighthouse education. Our staff models and teaches desirable character traits following the ACES and SHINE programs.
Our leaders are dedicated to ensuring that each and every scholar has a chance to succeed-on our campus and beyond. We encourage you to meet our leaders and become familiar with the staff who guide scholars to college and beyond.
