Standards
Thales Academy general standards of performance and conduct
Writing & Literacy
Writing & Literacy are cornerstones of a strong education. At Thales Academy, our elementary school program establishes and grows fundamental skills in these areas with high efficiency and efficacy through Direct Instruction and formal lessons in grammar as well as both manuscript and cursive handwriting.
Our junior high and high school programs expand upon these fundamentals to nurture and master robust skills in reading comprehension, writing styles, primary and secondary research, analysis, articulation, and more.
Our graduates emerge as adroit writers, readers, and thinkers, directly contributing to their college and career success.
K–5
Literacy
Thales Academy's K–5 literacy program is developed through Reading Mastery, a highly structured, research-based approach proven to develop strong, confident, and proficient readers. The program systematically teaches phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and critical thinking through explicit, direct instruction.
Students begin by building a solid foundation in decoding skills and oral language development, ensuring they can read words accurately and with increasing automaticity. As instruction progresses, they expand their vocabulary, strengthen their ability to read with fluency, and develop sophisticated comprehension strategies for understanding both literal and inferential meaning.
A hallmark of Reading Mastery is its cumulative, carefully sequenced lessons, which ensure that every new skill builds directly on those already mastered. By the end of elementary school, students are equipped to read a wide range of complex texts fluently and independently, analyze and evaluate ideas within those texts, and communicate their understanding effectively.
Students will possess the literacy skills necessary to succeed across all academic disciplines, forming the foundation for lifelong learning.
Reading Mastery does more than teach students to read. It nurtures the habits of attention, precision, and intellectual curiosity that equip them to engage deeply with literature and ideas. Strong literacy opens the door to rich understanding, enabling students to explore timeless works, think critically, and seek truth with both skill and discernment.
Writing/Grammar
Thales Academy’s K–5 writing/grammar program is developed through Shurley English, a comprehensive program that develops students into articulate, confident, and proficient communicators. The program systematically teaches grammar, sentence structure, paragraph development, and the full writing process.
Students begin by mastering the fundamental building blocks of language, including parts of speech, sentence classification, and punctuation, ensuring they can construct grammatically correct and well-formed sentences. As instruction progresses, they learn to organize their ideas logically, develop cohesive paragraphs, and craft multi-paragraph essays that convey ideas with clarity and purpose.
A hallmark of Shurley English is its cumulative, carefully sequenced lessons, which ensure every new skill builds directly on those already mastered. Students engage in frequent practice, guided application, and continual review, enabling them to internalize the rules of grammar and apply them naturally in both speaking and writing. Explicit modeling, question-and-answer flows, and structured practice foster mastery and confidence. By the end of elementary school, students can write with precision, variety, and stylistic maturity.
Students will understand how to tailor their writing for different audiences and purposes, and they can edit and revise their work thoughtfully.
These skills extend beyond writing assignments, equipping students to think critically, reason logically, and communicate effectively in all academic disciplines.
Shurley English does more than teach grammar and composition. It cultivates the habits of disciplined thought, logical organization, and eloquent expression, skills essential for the pursuit of truth and the ability to convey it with clarity and grace.
Handwriting
Thales Academy’s K–5 handwriting program, based on the Zaner-Bloser method, provides systematic instruction in manuscript and cursive writing with a strong emphasis on correct pencil grasp, accurate letter formation, proper spacing, and alignment. Students begin in Kindergarten with manuscript, developing fine-motor skills and writing fluency, and transition to cursive in 2nd grade, mastering fluid, connected writing that remains legible and efficient.
Thales Academy teaches cursive because it strengthens cognition, builds writing fluency, cultivates discipline and grace, and preserves both practical skills and the rich traditions of classical learning.
Through explicit teaching, guided practice, and ongoing feedback, we ensure students build the confidence and precision needed for clear, effective written communication.
Junior High
After mastering foundational writing skills in the grammar stage, students will be prepared to begin showcasing their logic with more elaborate, analytical, and cogent writing. Junior high students will progress from writing well-structured and detailed paragraphs in sixth grade to crafting and developing a thesis in a longer, well-organized five-paragraph essay in eighth grade.
6th Grade
Students will strive for quality over quantity, focusing on strong claims and/or topic sentences and the explanatory power and cohesion of their writing.
7th Grade
Students will focus on crafting and supporting strong thesis statements and building endurance by developing their thesis in separate paragraphs.
8th Grade
Students will brainstorm, draft, and revise a full-length, five-paragraph essay in literature.
High School
In high school students will focus on rhetoric, incorporating elements of style to make their writing more authoritative, elegant, well-reasoned, and compelling.
9th Grade
Students will practice three types of writing: a five-paragraph argumentative essay in literature, a five-paragraph research-based essay in history, and data-focused lab reports in science.
10th Grade
Students will continue to write five-paragraph essays, focusing on revisions to make sure their argument is developed logically and quotations are integrated effectively.
11th Grade
Students will write five-paragraph essays with more advanced topics, greater demands for analysis, and a keener awareness of style.
12th Grade
Students will elegantly and cogently craft, develop, and defend an analytical argument drawn from multiple sources in the Western Canon. This Senior Thesis is the capstone of the writing program, through which students demonstrate their understanding and appreciation of the Western Tradition as well as the skills of scholarship they have learned in their years at Thales Academy.
Academic Honor Code
Thales Academy is committed to fostering the ethical and social development of its students. We seek to promote a community that holds personal integrity and mutual respect as standards for behavior. We expect our students to do more than just follow a set of rules; we expect our students to embody a set of ethical standards by which a person may live both in and out of school. Decent, self-respecting behavior must be based on personal integrity, genuine concern for others, and the ethical principles which are the basis of civilized society. This behavior is instilled and cultivated at home and fostered in our schools.
The highest value of Thales Academy is our first Outcome: Unfailing Integrity. While we hope for academic excellence and career success, it is our first desire that the students of Thales Academy own their words, deeds, and actions honestly as individuals growing in integrity. As part of that commitment, Thales Academy has a strenuous zero tolerance policy for plagiarism.
Plagiarism & Artificial Intelligence
At Thales Academy, we believe that the act of creation is an essential feature of human dignity. As such, our curriculum elevates the original ideas that humans have reflected on and continue to examine for their application to a productive, virtuous, and meaningful life. To develop their thinking and writing skills, we ask students to encounter, study, and craft their own contributions to a rich intellectual heritage that celebrates goodness, beauty, and truth. While we stand in agreement with Mortimer Adler's assertion that human excellence is the goal of a liberal arts education, other outcomes interest us beyond the quality of the final product. We want students to wrestle with complex ideas, notice and correct errors, and experiment with rhetorical strategies. Our senior thesis, for example, requires students to demonstrate their understanding and appreciation of the Western Tradition as well as the skills of scholarship they have learned in their years at Thales Academy.
There are two obstacles to this remarkable undertaking: first, the misrepresentation of another person's work as one's own, and secondly, misguided reliance on technology that fabricates written forms of communication almost indistinguishable from those created by a human being. Ultimately, our objective is for students to grow in knowledge, responsibility, professionalism, and character. To that end, Thales Academy has a zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism and the use of artificial intelligence. Students should not use AI to do research or summarize texts for them in the completion of their assignments. Their work must properly and sufficiently cite another person's ideas, and it should not contain any AI generated content nor be supported by editing software tools. These include but are not limited to ChatGPT, Quillbot, Grammarly, and Google Gemini. Rather than viewing these expectations as limiting, we encourage students and families to recognize the freedom our standards provide to pursue academic excellence with integrity and take pride in the process of one's own intellectual achievement.
Violations & Enforcement
Performance Communication
K-5 students are expected to meet mastery in each subject (minimum 85% average) and JH/HS students are expected to make passing grades. If these standards are not met, teachers and Heads of School will provide immediate and ongoing communication regarding your child's academic progress. In such cases, recommendations for home remediation will be provided, in addition to extra onsite support, as available at each campus. While no news generally means a student is performing well, teachers are encouraged to also share positive updates about progress as time allows.
Mid-Quarter Checks are given four times per year at the midpoint of each quarter. Report cards are given four times per year at the end of each quarter. Please refer to your onRecord account to print copies of these records if needed.
Standardized Testing
Thales Academy administers nationally-normed standardized testing to students in grades K–12 annually.* This allows teachers and administrators to measure student progress objectively and prepares students in the upper grades for the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) required for admission to many colleges and universities throughout the nation. The standardized tests used by Thales Academy include:
- Classic Learning Test (CLT) - Grades 3–11, administered in May
Thales Academy ranks in the Top 20 schools nationwide on the CLT - PSAT - Grades 8–11, administered in October
- Classic Learning Test (CLT) - Grades 9–12, administered in January
Thales Academy ranks in the Top 20 schools nationwide on the CLT - SAT - Optional, Grades 11–12, administered once or twice during the year (Seniors are encouraged to take the SAT and/or the ACT for college admissions)
- ACT - Optional, Grades 11–12, administered once or twice during the year (Seniors are encouraged to take the SAT and/or the ACT for college admissions)
Thales Academy students consistently rank in the 98th percentile nationally.
*Standardized testing through our schools is available for currently enrolled Thales Academy students only.
