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Growing Character and Knowledge

We are a new, tuition-free public charter school enrolling K – 2 for the fall of 2026, with a mission to kindle a love of virtue and knowledge. (We will have an independent Pre-K provider onsite).

We provide small classes, excellent instruction, character formation, an engaging Core Knowledge curriculum, art or music every day, a family-friendly calendar, before and after school care, and a bus 🚌

🍕 Free pizza dinner & info meeting: Monday, May 4 at 5:45 p.m. (RSVP here)

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We build character

by modeling it and giving caring guidance.

See character development in action →
We engage minds

with a rich and broad curriculum.

Discover our unique learning approach →
We set high academic standards

and support students to achieve them.

Explore our academic program →
We foster strong relationships

because children are people before they are learners.

Learn how we build strong relationships →

A Culture of Character

“Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

We focus on character because students are not just thinkers—they’re real people who will interact with other people every day of their lives, from the playground to the classroom to social media to the workplace.

It’s treating others with dignity. It’s having the wisdom and courage to do the right thing. It’s building good habits that last a lifetime. It’s doing your best and serving others.

Children become their best selves when they grow in their character, which is shaped by hundreds of little moments every day.

  • A caring student standing up for another student on the playground
  • An encouraging student publicly recognizing something positive about another student
  • An honest student choosing to get a wrong answer instead of looking at another student’s test
  • A respectful student who listens quietly to another student’s response instead of interrupting
  • A selfless student helping another clean up a spilled lunch

Character development isn’t a box that we check; it’s ingrained in our culture and begins with intentionally hiring teachers of high character who become role models. Teachers are trained and supported to:

  • model virtues such as respect by speaking to students with kindness, and excellence by leading well-prepared lessons
  • publicly recognize students each day and at school assemblies for ways they displayed good character
  • help develop good habits such as responsibility by assigning students classroom duties, and perseverance by giving students challenging problems and supporting them to solve them
  • lead discussions that explore how characters in literature and people in history face and resolve moral challenges
  • take a restorative approach to discipline, upholding high standards and providing consequences designed to help students grow from their mistakes

Learning That Matters

Knowledge comes alive when students are immersed in the best of what our world has to offer. Our approach to learning helps students make meaningful connections and develop a lifelong love of learning.

For more details, see “Our Approach: What Will the Academic Program Look Like?” in our FAQs (click here).

See

Our content-rich, broad-based curriculum presents students with the greatest ideas, stories, events, scientific discoveries, poetry, art, and music that have shaped our country and our world.

Walk down our hallway, and you’ll hear first graders engaging with a riveting history of Ancient Egypt, third graders discussing a Mary Cassatt painting, fifth graders listening to Beethoven or Mahalia Jackson, seventh graders reading and discussing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and eighth graders doing a project on magnetism.

By following a consistent curriculum, East Hills Academy ensures that all students receive the same, high-quality instruction and content.

Know

Deep understanding comes from mastering fundamental skills and facts, close observation, exploring meaningful questions, and engaging in thoughtful discussion and reflection.

In social studies, seventh graders read a primary source, like James Madison’s Federalist No. 51. Having previously studied and memorized the branches of government and their functions, students have the foundational knowledge to intelligibly engage with the ideas of checks and balances and the separation of powers.

Care

When students are presented with quality content and are supported in understanding it, they develop an appreciation for it.

A second grader may use watercolor to paint a pine cone in a nature journal. She will feel the sharp spines and the sticky sap and smell the pine scent. Painting the pine cone allows her to observe its details more closely, and upon completion, she will label and memorize the parts of a pine cone. The next time this student is at a park, she will notice the pine cone and proudly share everything she knows about it.

Excellence in Action

Our rigorous program enables students to access deeper knowledge while fostering growth in virtues like hard work, perseverance, and responsibility.

In our classrooms, you’ll see:

  • Readers asking and discussing thoughtful questions on challenging texts
  • Mathematicians thinking creatively to solve difficult problems
  • Writers crafting compelling essays with correct spelling and grammar
  • Scientists asking good questions and recalling important details by memory
  • Historians making a meaningful connection between two independent events

Our commitment:

  • Unwavering high expectations and supporting students to achieve them
  • Effective teachers receiving regular training, coaching, and support
  • Evidence-based curriculum and instruction
  • Clear and regular communication with families about student progress
  • Continually reflecting to improve how we serve students

Growing Together

At East Hills, all children are seen, known, and cared for so that they may see, know, and care for others. This begins with strong relationships.

Building community through:

  • Intentional morning meetings that start each day with meaningful connections
  • Assemblies celebrating students’ character and academic achievements
  • Student performances that highlight their talents
  • Events and field trips that provide regular opportunities for families to volunteer and engage
  • Themed classroom days (like “Renaissance Day”)

What you’ll see and hear each day:

  • Teachers greeting each student by name at the door
  • Opportunities for students to give genuine affirmations to their peers
  • Extended recess time to allow friendships to blossom
  • Fun and enriching extracurricular activities
  • Celebrations of daily achievements

0 Years Old, 100 Years of Experience

Welcome, and thank you for your interest in East Hills Academy.

East Hills Academy may be a new school, but there’s nothing new about our founding team (click here). Collectively, we have over 100 years of experience in education. Most of us have previously worked together in high-performing schools, and most of us have previously been on the ground floor of a new startup charter school.

Our founder and executive director has spent his career in education because of a tuition-free public charter school that changed his life. When his family moved to the United States, “school choice” was largely limited to families who could move to a different neighborhood or afford private school. However, the year he entered kindergarten was the first year tuition-free public charter schools were an option in Colorado Springs. His name was selected in the lottery, and he attended one of the highest-performing schools in the state from kindergarten through eighth grade. He experienced a rich and beautiful curriculum, grew in character, and made lifelong friends. He has spearheaded the founding of East Hills Academy so more children in Colorado Springs can have that same experience.

We invite you to “meet” each team member (click here) and learn more about the talented professionals who are building this school from the ground up. Their backgrounds, passions, and commitment to students are what make this community so special.

We are proud of the team we have assembled and are grateful for the expertise and care they bring to this work. We look forward to partnering with you as we create a strong foundation for your children’s success.

Finally, our board of directors (below) consists of talented, passionate, and highly-respected community members who have served Colorado Springs for decades. Their experience ranges from charter schools, public schools, higher education, nonprofits, and finance.

Thanks for being on this exciting journey with us!

Partners in Education,
The East Hills Academy Team

Our Board

Andy
Barton

Board President

President & CEO

Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado

Catherine
Hendrix

Board Secretary

Program Director

Parents Challenge

Shayne
Momber

Board Treasurer

Vice President & Portfolio Manager

Arkenstone Financial

Laura
Calhoun

Board Director

Senior Pastor

Restored Life Church

Dr. Melindajoy Mingo

Board Director

President

Significant Life Change

Frequently Asked Questions

About Our School

East Hills Academy is a tuition-free public charter school that offers time-tested instruction in a broad and rich curriculum (Core Knowledge), high expectations for academics and behavior, and a focus on character.

East Hills Academy’s charter application was unanimously approved by District 11 in June of 2025, and the school has been awarded over $3,000,000 of start-up grants. Our first day of school is August 10, 2026. (See calendar here).

We will offer kindergarten through second grade in our first year (2026-2027) and will add a grade each year until we reach eighth grade.

We hope to finalize an agreement with a partner organization this month (April) to provide Pre-K onsite.

Yes, our target class size is 22 students, with a homeroom teacher and teacher’s aide in each elementary classroom. To maintain this target class size and maintain stability in our student body, we may over-enroll in the first quarter by a few students, knowing that some families will naturally relocate during the school year. We will reevaluate this annually, as our desire is to keep classes as small as possible.

To keep our culture strong and instructional quality high, we are only opening up two Pre-K classes, two kindergarten classes, one first grade class, and one second grade class for the 2026-2027 school year.

Your child’s school calendar shouldn’t be a weekly surprise. We don’t have early releases, late starts (except for snow days), half days, or random days off.

Other than federal holidays, standard school breaks, and two teacher work days, we’re in session 7:45-3:15, Monday-Friday, August-May.

We’re a school that works for working families.

See our calendar here.

East Hills Academy is a public charter school, which means there is no tuition to attend our school (K-2).

 

We will be finalizing fee details with our Pre-K and before- and after-school provider this month. CCAP will be accepted.

Our Approach

Our program is guided by the well-respected Core Knowledge Scope and Sequence that is used in high-performing charters throughout the country. The traditional East Hills curriculum will be broad-based and content-rich, providing a comprehensive survey of history and science and immersing students in some of the best ideas, stories, art, music, and poetry that our world has to offer. East Hills Academy will use an evidence-based direct instruction approach to reading and math.

East Hills Academy’s Academic Scope and Sequence

Each grade at East Hills Academy is a collection of (mostly) published programs that have been proven in scope and sequence and effectiveness. Below is an overview (with descriptions) of the curriculum we will be teaching in each grade.

Reading Mastery is a comprehensive, evidence-based reading program for grades K-5 that uses structured Direct Instruction to develop decoding, fluency, and comprehension skills. It is designed to accelerate reading progress.

Heggerty Phonemic Awareness is an evidence-based supplemental literacy curriculum that focuses on developing phonemic awareness through daily 10–12 minute, explicit, and auditory lessons.

Singapore Math is a comprehensive, mastery-based math curriculum designed to foster deep conceptual understanding through a concrete-pictorial-abstract approach, emphasizing mental math, bar modeling, and problem-solving.

SRA Cursive is a Direct Instruction program that aims to develop fluent, legible handwriting through consistent, explicit modeling of stroke sequences, reducing cognitive load for better spelling and composition.

Shurley Grammar utilizes a multi-sensory, scaffolded approach (jingles, Q&A flows) to make abstract grammar concepts concrete and automatic, fostering confident, skilled writers. By emphasizing repetition, rhythm, and structural analysis, it helps students master parts of speech and sentence structure, leading to improved, higher-level writing skills. 

Simplify Writing is a structured writing program that teaches writing in the context of authentic writing pieces through dedicated writing time, strategy-focused direct instruction, teacher clarity, teacher modeling and exemplar usage, graphic organizers, and consistent and timely feedback.

Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) Knowledge Units are used to teach history and science. They are  designed to build essential background knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension by using thematic, research-backed, and content-rich topics (history and science) to ensure all students build a strong foundation of knowledge to enhance literacy, civic understanding, scientific literacy, and critical thinking skills.

Nature Studies help form habits of attention and careful observation. Through firsthand encounters with plants and seasonal changes, children develop scientific thinking skills while also cultivating joy, gratitude, and wonder.

Core Knowledge Literature, Poems, and Sayings builds a shared foundation of knowledge, fosters cultural literacy, enhances language development, and develops appreciation for diverse artistic expressions.

Core Knowledge Music and Visual Arts provide a coherent, sequenced, and content-rich framework, fostering comprehensive arts literacy alongside creative expression. These units build foundational knowledge of art/music history, theory, and techniques while connecting, analyzing, and creating works from diverse cultures, eras, and genres.

Yes, cursive handwriting will be taught starting in kindergarten. Research shows that cursive enhances reading and writing skills, reduces letter reversals, improves fine motor coordination, and boosts cognitive development.

Yes, East Hills Academy will assign purposeful homework to reinforce classroom learning and build independent study skills. Homework will follow the “10 minutes per grade level” rule of thumb, increasing gradually through middle school to prepare students for high school rigor. We also ask students to read or be read to for 20 minutes each night.

This approach to homework and reading balances academic growth with respect for family time and developmental needs. Homework help will be available in our after-school program.

  • As the school grows, East Hills will add an after-school theater program and choir program, depending on interest.
  • Sixth through eighth grade students will have boys’ and girls’ basketball and soccer and girls’ volleyball. Depending on interest, sports may be available at younger grades in partnership with local organizations.
  • Other extracurricular activities will be available, depending on interest.

East Hills Academy has a low-tech approach for its program.

Thinking Over Tech

We believe technology is a tool, not a teacher. While digital devices can be useful, too much screen time can harm how children learn and grow. Our program focuses on teaching students how to think, not what to think; using this low-tech approach builds sharp minds and strong character.

Teaching is Relational

Ultimately, the greatest learning is founded on strong relationships with real people. Teachers, not tech, act as coaches who guide students to grow in character and knowledge.

Why Limit Technology?

In many homes, restaurants, cars, and schools, children are already on devices. Too much screen time, however, can lead to anxiety, trouble focusing, or difficulty with emotions and friendships. At East Hills Academy, we see these challenges and choose a different path. Our low-tech classrooms help students stay engaged, interact positively with peers, and develop the focus needed for deep learning.

As students advance to middle school, they will have additional opportunities to learn about technology to prepare them for high school. This will be intentional, targeted, and limited to what’s necessary for success.

 

See the research: American Academy of Pediatrics on Screen

Community & Family Involvement

We welcome family involvement in many ways:

  • Volunteering at school and at school community events
  • Helping with field trips
  • Serving on parent committees
  • Supporting learning at home
  • Morning meetings that build community
  • Academic subjects taught in engaging ways
  • Art or music every day
  • Three recesses each day (with P.E. replacing the third recess twice a week)
  • Small group reading instruction and individual support
  • Character development woven throughout

Practical Details

We’re happy to announce that our new location (starting summer 2026) will be 1001 E. Van Buren St. (near Union & Constitution).

East Hills Academy will operate as a fully independent school on the Mann Middle School campus, with dedicated classrooms located in a separate area of the building and its own facilities.

Yes, we will be finalizing an agreement with a partner organization this month (March) that will provide before- and after-school care, along with child care during snow days. Stay tuned!

Yes, we hope to finalize an agreement with a partner organization this month (April) that will provide Pre-K onsite. Stay tuned!

Yes. Trained D11 security officers will conduct regular roving patrols on campus.

Yes, uniforms promote a focused learning environment, foster a sense of community, and minimize distractions. They also encourage students to take pride in their appearance and contribute to an atmosphere of respect and high expectations.

 

Merriam-Webster defines a uniform as “dress of a distinctive design or fashion worn by members of a particular group and serving as a means of identification.” In this sense, uniforms bring students together as one community of learners, regardless of background, while signaling to the broader community our shared identity and purpose as a school committed to excellence, virtue, and knowledge. By removing the pressures of fad and fashion, uniforms allow students to concentrate more fully on their intellectual and moral development.

 

Student attire significantly influences the learning environment. Uniforms support discipline, reinforce a positive and unified school appearance, and promote greater equality among students’ wardrobes.

Click here to secure a spot. This initial process takes about 2 minutes to complete.

We will only be opening up two kindergarten classes, one first grade class, and one second grade class for the 2026-2027 school year.

Learn More

Share your info, and we’ll reach out. Or call/text us at (719) 425-9208.

Ready to enroll? Complete our Enrollment Application here.