The ChattAcademy experience is grounded in the work of reimagining what learning can look like.

Why Bilingual Education?

  • Bilingual learning environments have shown, on average, a 17% increase in childhood cognitive development. Bilingual education has been proven to increase the rate of language acquisition of English Learners, increase academic outcomes for both English Learners and English speaking students.

  • Bilingual education results in added cognitive, cultural, and social-emotional benefits for students. Bilingual people have been found to have higher levels of executive functioning, self-awareness and regulation, and the ability to handle complex situations which require multi-tasking.

  • Bilingual employees currently receive an increase pay differential anywhere between 2% and 20% in comparison to their monolingual counterparts. During times of economic downturn, bilingual employees are less likely to be let go by an employer than their monolingual peers.

  • Students in bilingual learning environments gain an appreciation for diverse cultures. They are more likely to learn additional languages, more likely to travel internationally, and more likely to pursue and obtain jobs with global impact.

  • Our bilingual model is dual immersion - which means it is for both students who speak predominantly English OR Spanish at home. The goal is that 50% of our student population are native speakers of each language and cross-immerse at school so that 100% of them graduate fully bilingual and biliterate, earning the TN State Seal of Biliteracy.

Supporting the thinkers, leaders, and communicators that will solve the community and world problems we don’t even know about yet.

Problem-based Approach to Learning

In the Classroom

  • Our curriculum is grounded in problem solving - not rote learning, worksheets, or abstract concepts. It is grounded in rich, important, relevant problems. Our focus is teaching kids how to think, not what to think - ensuring they master all grade level content, but going beyond that metric to equip them in becoming independent, self-driven, curious learners.

  • We believe curiosity is the catalyst of learning and being a great problem solver is the lynchpin to living a life of opportunity and choice. When we present students with chances to apply grade level content to rich problems, we show them why they are learning what they are learning.

One of a Kind “Problems” Course

  • ChattAcademy will take a course each year titled “Problems.” They will be presented with novel problems each week that push them outside of their comfort zone and inspire creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. Teachers will support the problem solving process during this course, and success will be defined by risk-taking, creativity, and innovation.

  • We believe that, like all skills, problem solving can be supported, grown, and improved. We believe supporting creative, confident problem solvers is our job as a school reimagining learning - supporting graduates that are excited, not intimidated, by challenges.

Local Contexts

  • Not only will our teachers design units and lessons grounded in local problems, we will partner with local organizations to ground student learning in places and contexts that they know and relate to - more on our partnerships below!

  • We believe learning matters most when it is grounded in contexts that students can relate to - it allows them to see the impact their problem-solving can have on their local community.

Place-based Learning

ChattAcademy Partnerships

  • The Tennessee Aquarium

    Students will have the opportunity to learn alongside TN Aquarium educators to suppot their STEM education.

  • The Hunter Museum

    Students will supplement their learning with experiences at The Hunter Museum of American Art.

  • The Chattanooga Zoo

    Students will work with the Zoo for experiential learning moments to support their science learning.

  • The Creative Discovery Museum

    Students wil have their STEM learning supported by experiences at the Creative Discovery Museum.

  • Reflection Riding

    Students will spend time in natural habitats to deepen their undestanding in science.

Critical Service

Learning Program

We believe schools should be in, of, and for the community. There is deep value in students participating in community service to understand the needs of their community while also being empowered by their potential impact.

But we also believe in going a step beyond traditional community service. We want students to ask - why does this need exist in our community? Is our impact short-term or a long-term solution? What would it take to eliminate this need in our community?

We believe this level of critical thinking paired with community service pushes students in their problem-solving growth and inspires them to chase lives of opportunity and choice that have larger impact.

Grounded in trust.

Committed to the whole child.

  • We believe it takes a village to support a child - which is why we welcome families and a student’s entire support system to the table when planning for their holistic development. This happen formally through quarterly Village Meetings and informally through daily relationship building and weekly advisory calls.

  • We believe a child’s social emotional learning is as important as their academic learning. We develop Character Development Plans with a child’s family to structure consistent and cohesive support between school, home, and other environments where our students are growing.

  • ChattAcademy uses an advisory structure to ensure students are seen, safe, and supported. Advisors have a small group of 10-12 students they meet with each Friday to work on social emotional learning. They are also the point person for each of those familie to streamline communication and build deep trust and meaningful relationships.