What if school was something that motivated you to get up in the morning? The Discovery Academy of Innovation is a one-of-a-kind school with a mandate to make learning extraordinary.
Supported by six pillars, The Discovery Academy of Innovation employs play, interest-driven and project-based learning to nurture a love of learning among young people. Beginning with preschool and adding a new grade level each year, the Discovery Academy of Innovation is a school focused on play, design, innovation, and creative learning.
How do you remember your school days? School, for most of us, consisted of riding the school bus, studying subjects with classmates under the supervision of a teacher in a classroom that had around 40 desk-chairs and a blackboard. And lots of seatwork and homework, too. You may remember this fondly or you may wonder if there could have been better ways to inspire learning. What if school could be different? What if it could be extraordinary? What if school got young people up at the break of dawn, filled with excitement, anticipation, and the certainty that wonderful things were about to happen?
This is the kind of school that Rosanna Lopez, founder of The Discovery Academy of Innovation, always wanted to create.
The Discovery Academy of Innovation is a different kind of school. Something that you haven’t heard of before. The school focuses on play, design, innovation, and creative learning. This comes at a time when the Philippines ranks one of the lowest in innovation (117th out of 127 on the Global Innovation Index 2017) and places 76th out of 137 countries for quality of math and science education (World Economic Forum 2018). “This is the perfect time to start preparing kids for the problems of the 21st century,” says Rosanna.
Discovery Academy and SparkleLab
The school espouses six pillars of learning: learning by doing (experience-based pedagogy), learning through play (as a catalyst for learning and increased student engagement), learning in context — the world is your classroom (the applications of innovation in real-world contexts and young people as active participants in communities of practice – an approach that involves design thinking), learning together (teachers design learning experiences supported by a team of content experts, instructional designers, developers, and engineers), learning with passion or interest-driven learning (helping students discover their interests, pursue their passions, and find their purpose), and learning across physical and digital worlds (a focus on tech and innovation). Is this something that translates into the preschool level? “Definitely,”
Rosanna says, “the foundation of learning happens in early childhood years.
Unfortunately, preschool is now considered the new first grade. We, at the Discovery Academy of Innovation, believe that cognitive skills like numeracy and literacy are important but play, curiosity, and socio-emotional skills like collaboration, grit, and resilience are equally important. These are acquired at a very early age. Our aim is to design learning experiences that help kids fall in love with learning and equip them with the knowledge and skills to create a kinder, more equitable world.”
What does “falling in love with learning” look like? Rosanna founded SparkleLAB as a research and development space that imagines the future of learning. Over the past six years, SparkleLAB designed, implemented, and assessed a series of after-school programs and summer camps focused on STEAM education. The success of these programs and its impact on learning and engagement led to the desire to innovate education where most kids spend their waking hours: school. Rosanna’s extensive learning and experience from those programs fuel the school’s curriculum and pedagogy. “It’s school reimagined,” says Rosanna, “a magical place that will spark wonder, curiosity, and an innate desire to find out more about the world and their role in it.”
If this is the kind of school that you can imagine your child studying, email justine.tajonera@sparklelab.ph. The team would be happy to correspond and meet with you. The preschool level will be opening its doors this April 1, 2020 with summer camps for kids 3-6 years old. Preschool and kindergarten programs will start in August 2020.
Discovery Academy of Innovation is located at Unit 201-202 2F KDC Plaza, 2212 Chino Roces Ave., Bgy. Pio del Pilar, Makati City.
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The Discovery Academy of Innovation (DAI) is a preschool with a safe, engaging learning environment where content experts, innovators, and changemakers come together and utilize technology, play and human-centered design to positively transform the world. The school’s mission is to equip kids with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and dispositions they’ll need to become smart, kind, creative and effective changemakers.
Inquiries may be sent to justine.tajonera@sparklelab.ph. Learn more about the Discovery Academy of Innovation: https://www.dailearning.com
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