Houston Academy

Founded in 1970, Houston Academy (HA) is southeast Alabama’s premier college preparatory school. HA is the only independent school in the region that focuses on college preparation and global education. Students who come to Houston Academy seek a well-rounded educational experience that includes a strong emphasis on challenging academics, community involvement, athletics, and the arts.

Houston Academy is an independent college preparatory institution. Our mission is to prepare all our students for responsible participation in a global society by providing an excellent learning environment and opportunities to achieve their highest academic, social, and creative potential.

There is an important distinction to be made between the term “private” and the term “independent.” The term “private” implies some sort of exclusivity. As such, “private” schools are often affiliated with a particular religious order, and in that sense, are not entirely free to set their own educational path. Often, in order to work at a private school or attend a private school, you must adhere to a certain worldview or be a member of a particular religious denomination. “Independent,” on the other hand, means that we are inclusive and welcoming of all people, regardless of religion, race, creed, national origin, or socio-economic status. That is not to say that we do not embrace faith or religion – we do. However, in independent schools like HA, we embrace the diversity of our community and attempt to learn from our differences and build on our students’ and faculty’s individual strengths.

This means that the goal of preparing our students to be successful in college and in life is at the core of everything we do. As such, we are the only school in the Wiregrass with the explicit mission of college preparation. We are unapologetically rigorous, and we hold our students and teachers accountable to an unwaveringly high standard of excellence. At the same time, we provide a loving and nurturing environment in which our students receive the support they need to be successful.

At Houston Academy, we understand that our students are entering an increasingly connected world. This requires imparting a skill set for our students that goes far beyond classical educational traditions. Our students must be 21st Century Learners. They must learn to collaborate, communicate effectively, engage in creative reflection and thought, think critically, possess enduring moral character, and have strong cross-cultural competence. To this end, we are the only school in the Wiregrass that is a 1:1 MacBook school in grades 5-12, and we are the only school that has integrated interactive projectors and iPads throughout our lower school curriculum. We seek to move beyond rote learning and meaningless memorization (methods that were the hallmarks of the classical educational model), to higher level thinking on Bloom’s Taxonomy. In addition, we offer four World and Classical Languages (German, French, Latin, and Spanish). We offer Spanish starting with our four-year-old preschoolers, and we will expand our middle-grades and lower-grades language offerings in the very near future.

Each student has individual strengths that we seek to recognize and enhance. All of our student go to college, but they are also musicians, actors, community volunteers, tutors, dancers, and artists. It is not unusual, despite our small size, for HA to lead the Wiregrass in the number of students selected for All-State Band and Chorus. Furthermore, our student art has received regional acclaim, and community service is not only required for graduation, it is a central part of what we do.

Houston Academy is committed to providing the best technology resources and solutions in support of the school’s mission and the Strategic Plan. Houston Academy seeks to utilize technology as the essential, transformational tool of the digital age. State-of-the-art technology tools integrated into our curriculum offer our students a comprehensive 21st century education. At the beginning of the 2012-13 school year, an initiative began that provided students in kindergarten through fourth grades 1:1 access to iPads. In December, all students in grades 5-12 were issued MacBook laptops for use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Houston Academy is the first school in the Wiregrass area to provide all K-12 students 1:1 access to these mobile learning devices.

Our teachers and administrators are involved in ongoing training provided by both Apple, Inc. and our own technology staff. Full-day inservices and after-school training sessions provide faculty and staff the opportunity to learn both software apps and new and exciting ways to integrate these wonderful learning devices into their classrooms. We believe that technology allows teachers an additional means to differentiate learning, connect with students with different learning styles, and create an environment where students learn to work collaboratively.