Aside from our live workshops (which take up, in total, 2.5 hours on Monday-Thursday), families are free to schedule their days however they wish. Flexibility is one of the great benefits of our program. If families wish to travel during the typical school year, that's no problem. We have many kids who tune into Prisma while traveling with their family (or simply take some time off during the school year). If families wish to fit in extracurriculars during the day or get-togethers with friends, that's also no problem. Having said this, we do provide a suggested schedule for those families that want a clear structure for their child's day and many of our learners do follow this.

We have learners with a wide range of special needs thriving at Prisma - from ADHD and dyslexia to dysgraphia and processing disorders, among others. Given the flexible and customizable nature of our program, we can be an especially good fit for some learners with disabilities, though we certainly don't claim to be the right fit all learner with special needs. Our curriculum allows learners to go at their own pace, make choices about how to demonstrate their learning, and connect learning to their interests. Some learners with special needs feel they need fewer supports at Prisma than in a traditional environment due to this flexibility.

All of our learning coaches are experienced educators with training in supporting learners of all abilities. They will work with your family to understand what kinds of accommodations have worked and not worked for your learner in the past, any challenges they may face interacting with our curriculum, and what lights them up as a learner. Then, they will collaborate with your family to customize the Prisma experience to best suit your learner's needs. We also have a counselor on staff available to work with learners who may need additional support as needed.

Many families of learners with special needs report the Prisma peer community to be the most accepting & welcoming of any learning environment they've tried. Prisma parents of learners with special needs also connect with each other to share resources, connect, or attend Prisma guest speaker events in topics like executive functioning.

Prisma is accredited by Cognia, a nonprofit organization that provides quality assurance for schools, school districts, and education service providers around the world.

Cognia, formerly AdvancED, recognizes schools that meet rigorous standards focused on productive learning environments, equitable resource allocation that meets the needs of learners, and effective leadership. Earning accreditation from the Cognia Global Accreditation Commission means that Prisma is accredited, and that Prisma is recognized internationally and in every U.S. state as a school that meets Cognia Standards of Quality, and maintains a commitment to continuous improvement. 

Dr. Mark A. Elgart, president and CEO of Cognia, stated, “Cognia Accreditation is a rigorous process that focuses the entire school and its community on the primary goal of preparing lifelong learners in engaging environments where all students can flourish.  Prisma is to be commended for demonstrating that it has met high standards, and is making progress on key indicators that impact student learning.” 

Cognia is the parent organization of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI).

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We also are registered with the US College Board under CEEB code no. 950237, which is the number used when applying to universities.

Kids who attend Prisma will be prepared with all the prerequisite skills to be successful in any rigorous academic program. They will also graduate with a unique portfolio of projects in all subjects, service learning experiences, and authentic writing assignments. Portfolios & projects are becoming increasingly recognized as essential in developing a standout college application.

Learners who have graduated from Prisma Middle School have been accepted to competitive private high schools and accelerated programs such as Cooke Young Scholars. In the words of one parent whose child was accepted to a competitive program after Prisma: "I firmly believe that her time at Prisma made that possible. The application questions were big open-ended things that she knew just how to digest, research, and respond to, and that gave her a real leg up. Plus all the cool hands-on, photo-worthy projects she had completed made her application stand out from the crowd!"

Prisma High School will graduate its first class of learners in Spring 2025. All high schoolers graduate with an official diploma and transcript that meets entrance requirements at major universities. Our innovative LaunchPad program prepares learners for the next stage of their lives through a rigorous college & career exploration process, preparation for tests like the SAT & ACT, and individualized college application support. Mentor coaches provide personalized letters of recommendation and advice. We also support learners in designing a Capstone project, completing an outside internship, and writing a dynamite college essay.

When we surveyed new learners this year, 86% said that they had made friends at Prisma after just 6 weeks. Our program provides considerable opportunities for kids to form friendships, from our standups where kids meet daily with their coach to share their thoughts and have fun, to team challenges, small-group exercises and group projects.

We also have many popular learner-led Clubs and coach-led Enrichments, ‍from Prisma Press to Dungeons & Dragons to Art to Cooking, as well as a highly engaged online learner forum. We also try to incorporate lots of one-off celebrations & extra events, from the annual Talent Show to the Prisma 100th Day Party to monthly Family Game Nights.

Many Prisma families also choose to organize in-person regional meetups, mini microschool-style learning hubs, and even trips. We love this and are happy to support and help publicize!

We believe that reading & writing are essential skills not only for future academic success, but for success in any field of interest. To show learners the real-world importance of literacy, we take an interdisciplinary approach, and weave reading & writing skills through our themes.

Reading: In addition to fiction & nonfiction texts that are incorporated into projects and workshops, each learner reads a book of their choice and writes about what they read in a reading journal each cycle. We provide a list of challenging options that connect to the theme (for example, mystery novels during Unsolved Mysteries and nonfiction books about animals during Wild Inventions), and also encourage learners to deviate from our suggestions if they find something else that excites them!

Writing: Prisma learners focus on authentic writing, learning how writing serves a purpose in the real world, rather than simply writing essays for a teacher to read. For example, past writing projects have included investigative journalism articles, business pitches, artist statements, video game reviews, and advocacy letters to local governments. Learners are also prepared with all the academic writing skills they'll need for high school and college, learning how to research & cite sources to produce argumentative & informational essays.

Our math curriculum aims to build more than just surface-level understanding of formulas and operations. Our program equips learners with deep conceptual understanding of mathematical ideas, the ability to apply these concepts to abstract & real-world problems, and a strong math mindset that helps them see the value in persisting because they believe math is useful.

Learners are placed into a small math group based on their needs. Each group works through a series of math missions throughout the year. To learn the concepts covered in the mission, learners complete daily practice using adaptive math technology, which has been proven in research to be more effective than traditional instruction alone. Three times each week, they participate in dynamic, interactive workshops where they can ask questions, share insights, and solve complex problems together, making learning both enjoyable and engaging.

At the end of each mission, learners tackle a mission checkpoint that asks them to apply the concepts they've learned to a real-world math problem. Math coaches give individualized feedback to determine if learners have earned a badge.

Stuck or struggling? Our math coaches offer extra small-group support in workshops and office hours. And learners can switch math groups at any time if they find the content too challenging, or not challenging enough, for their needs.

Yes and no. Grading as practiced in traditional schools is broken. The purpose of assessment should be to track development of essential skills, but in many schools it becomes a) the only way to motivate kids to complete work and b) more about checking boxes than measuring knowledge.

Our assessment looks more like feedback does in the real world, combined with a transcript system using mastery-based grading. Before earning badges or credits, learners get ample feedback and revise their work until it's truly their best, rather than turning it in once and forgetting about it.

Middle School learners earn badges for mastering skills. Each project is broken into multiple badges based on the academic standards covered (for example, they might earn a Physics: Forces & Motion Badge, Design Thinking Badge, and Model Engineering Badge for a toy design project). Learners can earn all, none, or some of the badges based on the quality of their efforts and the assessment of their coach. They also have the opportunity to earn badges with distinction (meaning they went above and beyond in their mastery).

High school learners do receive traditional grades, and earn traditional credits, because these are more understandable in the college admissions process. However, our process is more akin to a review process in a job than traditional high school grading. Learners collect evidence from their explorations and projects proving their work meets the standard required to earn each credit, and at the end of the theme, they argue which letter grade their work deserves. Academic coaches may agree or disagree, and have ultimate say over the final grade. Sometimes, they'll suggest revisions learners can make to earn the grade they proposed.

Here's a great article from Harvard Graduate School of Education on why competency-based badges are better than seat-time-based grades.