Our Philosophy

Our scholars have big dreams and high hopes. We believe that with wholehearted support, a safe place to grow, and the tools to succeed, scholars will overcome any obstacle.

We live this belief by approaching everything we do with this fundamenal philosophy:

Family partnerships 

At ODA, we partner with families to meet the needs of their children. Families are children’s first teachers, and they know their children’s interests, personalities, and needs better than anyone. We collaborate with families to best meet the needs of our scholars and foster their growth using consistent, structured support.

Relationship-based learning 

We know from experience that strong educator-scholar relationships are the foundation of learning. Our scholars grow in competence and confidence through caring cooperation with adults. We know that to build motivation and inspiration to spark a love of learning, the first step is creating a sense of belonging, love, and mutual trust.

Strength-based development 

We believe that the children that we serve have the inherent gifts to succeed. Achievement gaps exist because opportunities for learning and growth are not equitable. Our role is to provide the environment, resources, and wraparound support to build our scholars up so they can achieve their full potential.

Culturally responsive education 

We center the everyday experience and cultural histories of our scholars, families, and communities. We strive to engage our scholars with academic content and enrichment activities in ways that foster meaning and purpose and build connections across lines of difference.

Transformative social learning  

Education is more than the transfer of information or simple reflection. We seek to understand the world in order to transform it. We develop critical thinking skills to empower scholars to engage with and build stronger communities.