Northeast Academy

I visited Northeast Academy in the Montbello area this week. They have about 450 students in grades K-8 with another 250 on the waiting list. At the national Core Knowledge conference last month the school received official Core Knowledge status.

Dr. Thomas Bouknight is the principal; he's in his second year at Northeast Academy. Additionally, a key founder of the school, Janet Darnell, works at the school and remains heavily involved in development and administration.

Character development is a priority at Northeast. The school serves primarily an at-risk student population and their goals are to excite students to learn and develop high-quality students of character. The character development is done through a formal character education program and also a positive school culture.

I've often heard the phrase, "it's all about the kids," bantered about. Northeast Academy is a school where the atmosphere speaks for itself: It is all about the kids.