Academics

Gwynedd-Mercy Academy strives to fulfill its mission to provide a innovative and individualized education through a comprehensive and challenging curriculum that is aligned with Pennsylvania and Archdiocesan standards. Students are actively engaged in learning and are challenged continually to apply higher order thinking skills as they compose, create, experiment, and discover.

In supporting the GMA Mission to provide a culturally-enriched, teacher-facilitated and child-centered academic program, teachers utilize multiple teaching methods to maximize learning possibilities for all. Through ongoing assessment of the learning needs of students and continued education around the best practice research, teachers create optimum learning environments, as they blend traditional learning strategies with the philosophy of differentiated instruction.

Through quality planning and collaboration, teachers not only focus on the development of strong lessons to support the essential elements of content, process, and product, but also on teaching strategies that engage students in quality learning, while accommodating their varying learning needs. These instructional strategies support learning through whole group instruction, as well as individual and flexible groupings, always with a strong emphasis on developing skills through collaboration. Observation of student learning, as well as opportunities to support and enhance the lesson, with a focus on developing higher level thinking skills through multiple intelligences, are critical in a flexible classroom environment. Technology integration across the grades enhances learning through the use of laptops, instructional software, interactive whiteboards, and Internet research. Specific learning activities such as pre-assessments, projects, demonstrations, reports, performances, and portfolios, as well as formal testing, provide meaningful assessments of learning. Throughout the entire learning environment, it is clear that GMA remains faithful to its Mission to educating the whole child.