REPORT: MEK Labs Year One
The first year of MEK Learning Circles (Math, Reading, Writing, and Literacy) has now come to a close. Thank you for being a part of the MEK Learning Circles program. We consider it a huge success.
This kind of extensive Common Core and PARCC-aligned prep is found nowhere else.
With MEK Labs, we aimed to be ahead of the curve. While other academies are behind in adapting to the educational changes like the Common Core, we projected early in order to prepare:
- critical thinking based reading exercises
- non-fiction text rich sources
- proprietary literacy and writing assignments
- Common Core aligned math word problems
Moreover, students have benefited from MEK Learning Circles. Some of the textbooks students use in school are up to 14 years old! Yet students are expected to use this material to adapt to the major educational reform.
MEK Learning Circles does two things: it fills the gap for students that schoolwork cannot fill, and secondly it enhances and develops skills for future use. Part of the reason this happened successfully is because of our extended hours.
Extended hours led to increased aptitude.
One of the major changes we made this past year was extending several session times from 60 minutes to 90 minutes. Students had more opportunities to meet with instructors … this allowed concepts to sink in and led to dramatic improvement.
We are confident that students — especially those in junior high — developed the skills needed to weather the changes happening in the educational landscape.
