Our Academic Model

Navigator Schools’ mission is to equip students to be learners and leaders in high school, college, and beyond. We develop top-tier teams of educators who continuously improve and innovate schools that deliver phenomenal outcomes for all students, regardless of their circumstances.

Navigator is diverse by design, bringing academic success to traditionally underserved students, including English language learners, low-income students, students with disabilities, and students who are foster youth or homeless.After studying best practices from schools throughout the United States, we created a rigorous TK-8 full inclusion model that anticipates and meets the needs of all students. Our students enjoy research-based, personalized learning supported by a strong instructional staff. Our staff is supported by extensive professional development with Navi Learning and regular coaching at every level of the organization which leads to phenomenal results for all students.

Academic Model Overview

  1. Data-Driven Instruction: Utilizing empirical data to guide teaching strategies ensures that instruction is tailored to the specific needs and progress of each student. This method allows for personalized learning experiences and targeted interventions, enhancing student achievement and growth.

  2. Cultural Excellence and Support Systems: Navigator Schools foster a culture of excellence and provide robust support for both academics and behavior, creating an environment conducive to learning and personal development.

  3. Technological Integration: The use of state-of-the-art technology in classrooms prepares students for future challenges and equips them with essential skills in an increasingly digital world.

Navigator Schools embraces a unique and comprehensive approach to education that is rooted in a data-driven methodology. This approach, applied consistently from TK through eighth grade, establishes a strong foundation for student success. The key components of this approach include:

navigator schools students writing at their desks

Navigator Schools' commitment to these principles sets the stage for the Navi Squads model, which begins in the fifth grade and signifies a pivotal shift in their educational paradigm.

Curriculum and Instructional Practices

Navigator uses a wide range of curriculum curated and created to meet the needs of our unique student population, to increase both engagement and learning outcomes. Navigator develops extensive scope and sequence documents for English language arts (ELA) and social studies, math, and science. These documents are updated weekly and contain all necessary curriculum housed within one source in each of the content areas.

Each of the learning experiences Navigator students participate in are backwards planned to ensure alignment to the Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the California History and Social Science Content Standards, English Language Development (ELD) Standards, and any other applicable California content standards.

Teachers at Navigator receive extensive support to develop a deep understanding of the academic standards for the grade level and content area they teach. They are empowered to choose and create academic materials that are mapped to these standards. At least four times a year, Navigator teachers have focused planning time to collaborate with their colleagues from across the network and with Navigator’s data analyst and curriculum specialist to continue developing and updating these documents.

  • The majority of the materials used are teacher-created PowerPoint slides that address ELA Common Core standards. Examples of other curricula used in the program include SRA Reading Mastery (builds phonemic awareness skills, letter-sound fluency, and decoding skills in early readers), SRA Horizons (builds specific decoding and comprehension skills in early readers), SRA Corrective Reading (increases reading fluency), Write From the Beginning, Thinking Maps, Reading Plus, Lexia, ReadWorks, NewsEla, Reading A to Z, CCSS Exemplar Texts, and Ready Common Core.

  • The material used to develop students’ understanding of mathematics application, algorithms, theory, and visualizations is teacher curated based on the Common Core Standards. In addition, the following curricula are also used: Envision, ST Math, Fast Math, LearnZillion, ALEKS, Khan Academy, Ready Common Core, and Go Math.

  • Navigator utilizes the TCI curriculum for History/Social Studies.

  • Navigator utilizes the TCI curriculum and Mystery Science in grades K-5 and plans to use Discovery Techbook in grades 6-8.