Breakthrough Schools: Citizens Leadership Academy

Breakthrough’s Citizens Leadership
Academy (CLA) prepares our middle
school students to lead in academics,
service, and civic engagement during
high school, college, and beyond.
Our distinct educational model – EL
Education – is perfect for middle school
because it engages students in handson,
active, project-based learning that
culminates in a high-quality project for an
authentic audience. CLA is also a Facing
History and Ourselves school and uses
the Facing History resources in social
studies, English, and in the CLA advisory
program, “crew.”

What makes us special:
The Citizens Leadership Academy curriculum is designed to prepare our students
to succeed at rigorous college-prep high schools, in college, and in the 21st-century
job market. Each grade has an essential question that connects the teaching of
core curriculum to societal issues and current events. Our curriculum is divided into
case studies tied to our essential questions, and each case study pushes students to
think critically and apply foundational skills. Typically, a case study lasts six to eight
weeks, and experts will come to the school or the students will conduct fieldwork
in the community. The bulk of the first few weeks of a case study is focused on
foundation skills in English, math, science and social studies so that students can
build background knowledge on the topic. Then, the students can apply that
knowledge to work on genuine community issues and high-quality products for
authentic audiences.