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The ATI Curriculum

Mastery-based learning

Mastery-based learning

At ATI, we believe that all students can achieve mastery if they are given sufficient time and adequate instruction. Rather than putting emphasis on grades, we work with our students on the goal of mastering new knowledge and skills. This is a paradigm shift in thinking that allows learning to happen at each student’s pace, tailored to them, and with mastery clearly defined.

  • Learning is not time-limited. Some students are ready to move on quickly; others need more time. Students pass to new material when they're ready, not because a certain amount of time has elapsed.
  • Instruction needs to be appropriate for each individual student, not someone else. That means clear objectives, a variety of learning methods, individualized support, and learner-centered instruction.
  • Mastery is defined. Students track their own progress towards mastering learning objectives, and demonstrate their skill and understanding in a variety of ways.


We work with Mastery Transcript Consortium to create a transcript that supports each teen’s learning today, while also opening doors for them in the future.

A prepared environment

A “Prepared Environment”


Montessori educators talk extensively about the “prepared environment.” This is Montessori’s word for the classroom: the physical space, but also the intangible elements - the culture, the routines, the schedule, the norms. Everything that communicates, without a word, the values of the school. The prepared environment is the third component of a triad containing the guide and the student: a “third teacher.” Without giving a lesson, the environment nonetheless teaches its students about the type of world they inhabit, about the values of their school, and about the trust that the community holds for them.

Read more about the Prepared Environment

Coaching at ATI Toronto

Middle school students experience intense physical and emotional growth during adolescence. For many students, setting goals, exploring values, and managing schedules are new experiences — and these tasks are challenging at any age! Even though growing independence and freedom are desirable and necessary, they require support and planning.

At ATI Toronto, students are paired with coaches, who serve as supportive guides and mentors. In school, the coach's role is to make himself obsolete as the student develops social, emotional, and cognitive skills to become her own coach. The coach is not a tutor or guidance counselor; he or she is a powerful and unique partner who helps students achieve their full potential.

Learn more about Coaching
love of work

Create motivation and engagement through love of work

There are many students who come to ATI with no specific idea of what they want out of school. It is common for students at this stage to find some or all areas of instruction inaccessible (the student who says, “I can’t do math!”) or irrelevant (“Why do we need this anyway?”). Our courses seek to explain the "why" of each discipline. What is the importance of history? What makes math essential? We combine this cognitive engagement with an individualized instructional approach that enables students to both identify and pursue their unique interests.

Network Courses

Our schools are intentionally small communities, uniquely linked in a large global network. One of the advantages of this structure is access to content experts around the world! Students can sign into live courses taught by professionals working and living in these fields: drawing courses taught by professional artists; film-making by LA-based directors; human progress and philosophy by philosophers at the University of Toronto; human anatomy by a surgeon in Texas. Wherever your student is located, with the power of the ATI network, the world’s experts are available to them.

Coursework

Middle School Coursework
Entrepreneurship and Micro-Economy

Entrepreneurship and Micro-Economy

Micro-economy is a hallmark of a Montessori adolescent program. Dr. Montessori imagined adolescents working together to create a small business that served the needs of the educational community. The goals of this “micro-economy” include:

  • Serving as a necessary and valued member of the community
  • Seeing the impact of knowledge and skill gains on practical work
  • Gaining confidence in their ability to survive and thrive in the real world

Many of our middle school communities work together on campus-wide businesses, including bookshops, coffee shops, small campus farms, and selling handmade products online and at local craft fairs.

In both middle and high school, many of our students begin to start their own small businesses, supported by both coursework and individual mentorship around crafting a business plan, making a website, professional networking, and more. Entrepreneurship is keenly aligned with Montessori principles and the values at ATI: encouraging students to pursue their individual passion at a high level, integrating knowledge from every area of academic study. From photography, to crafting co-ops, to web design and self-published graphic novels, students at ATI set and achieve ambitious goals that have the potential to change the world.

Sample Middle School Schedule

Sample ATI Toronto Middle School Schedule

ATI Toronto Teaching Staff

Unlike a traditional school model, Montessori education uses guides instead of teachers. During the Montessori process, they are there to guide students toward their innate potential while guiding them through the process of learning and self-construction.

Our Team

Administrator

Laura McCarthy

Administrator

Laura is a 2004 graduate of Ryerson University who went on to a successful career in the apparel industry as a buyer. Since shifting focus to raising her 3 boys, she has immersed herself in parenting and education theory. Committing to finding the best education possible, she began a lengthy search for a middle school that would be true to Montessori principles. After disappointment with various alternatives, both progressive and traditional, she found ATI. The key elements that sold her on ATI’s approach are in its very name — “Thought and Industry.” Thought, in the sense that ATI focuses on nurturing each student’s intellectual independence — and thereby build confidence in their ability to make sense of whatever they may encounter in life. And industry, in the sense of an education where students can “play the whole game at a junior level,” in other words, do meaningful, satisfying real-world work while still in school. Laura is now determined to help develop ATI Toronto into a thriving community. In her free time, Laura is obsessed with all things related to interior design, and is also learning to play the guitar, with the aim of becoming a cottage campfire virtuoso.

Middle School Lead Guide

Hugh Merson

Middle School Lead Guide

Hugh is a passionate and thoughtful educator with deep Montessori roots. He has taught for 14 years at levels ranging from the early years through to adulthood and believes that, at every age, education should be about discovery – that the meeting of effort and curiosity are what propel both academic understanding and personal growth. Hugh’s approach is bolstered by training in facilitation methods, process design and the neuroscience of stress and development. Hugh grew up in the East end of Toronto where he attended a Casa Montessori program from the age of three to six. He reconnected with the Montessori method in early adulthood and has been working as an educator and teacher trainer ever since. When not in the classroom, Hugh enjoys all things basketball, growing bonsai trees in his backyard and adventures - near, far, and imagined - with his wife and daughter.

STEM Guide

Karen Goos

STEM Guide

Karen is a native New Yorker who earned her B.A. in Philosophy from Union College. Later she went on to get teaching degrees in Special Education and Mathematics Leadership from NYU and Bank Street College of Education. Karen worked teaching Math and Science in New York City and Toronto for 8 years and another 5 years in a part time capacity. Now that her three children are getting older, she is delighted to be back in the classroom. In her spare time Karen enjoys books, travel with her family and taking care of her dog, Sunny.

Planning for College and Career Development

The ultimate goal of ATI Toronto is to create students who thrive: living happy, fulfilling, and productive lives. Each student is guided through the process of identifying their values, setting specific goals, and learning how to achieve them. Throughout this process, they gain a sense of accomplishment and prepare themselves for a variety of careers.

Student Outcomes

Student Outcomes

Our middle school students are often interested in pursuing higher education, and our college-bound seniors have a 100% placement rate. Along with their coach and guides, students work with a full-time, licensed college counselor.


Here is where you will find some of our recent ATI graduates:

ATI Toronto Academics FAQs

  • Ambitious teens looking to follow their passions with support and guidance
  • High-achieving students who are looking for an intellectually challenging school where they can take on more freedom and responsibility
  • Students looking for a small, supportive community and a more personalized learning path
  • Elementary Montessori students who want to continue thriving in this model of education
  • Anyone who wants to think and do in a place that encourages you to actualize your full potential in school and beyond

What parents are saying about academics

ATI Student

We have seen an enormous improvement in our 13-year-old daughter’s self-confidence, independence and maturity since she started at ATI. She is also more articulate and focused.

Betty K.

ATI Parent

The Academy of Thought and Industry Austin has received accreditation by Cognia™ and WASC

The Academy of Thought and Industry has received accreditation by Cognia™ and WASC, the Accrediting Commission for Schools Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Earning accreditation from the Cognia Global Accreditation Commission means that the system and all of its domestic and international schools are accredited, and that ATI is recognized across the nation as meeting the Cognia Standards of Quality. ACS WASC accredits elementary and secondary schools; non-degree granting adult schools; and supplementary education programs.

Experience school on your terms

Join a school community designed to support your education with coaching, small classes, and a commitment to our core values. Engage in deep study and personal exploration as a student at ATI.

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