Our mission at Ignite Achievement Academy is to significantly improve the skill achievement of students with academic barriers through the use of a variety of educational materials and curriculums. Every child receives an individualized academic plan that outlines the curriculum to will be used throughout the year for the individual child. This helps teachers deliver the correct instruction to every student using the right environment and the correct intensity. We monitor student academic progress frequently to ensure it is effective and will make changes to the academic plan, if needed. 

Math Curriculum

At Ignite Achievement Academy, math instruction is individualized to meet each student’s current level of understanding and learning needs. In addition to core instruction, students may receive targeted curriculum supplements and one-on-one support from Teacher Assistants to reinforce skills and ensure continued progress.

Math-U-See

We utilize the Math-U-See curriculum as the foundation of our math program.

Math-U-See is a research-based, multi-sensory curriculum designed to help students develop a deep understanding of mathematical concepts. A key component of the program is the use of hands-on manipulatives, which allow students to physically build and visualize math concepts—making abstract ideas more concrete and accessible.

The curriculum is structured into 13 sequential levels, beginning with foundational number sense and progressing through advanced high school mathematics, including calculus. Students are placed into the appropriate level using comprehensive placement assessments, ensuring instruction begins exactly where they need it—without gaps in understanding.

Math-U-See emphasizes:

• Mastery of concepts before introducing new skills

• Individualized pacing based on student readiness

• Multi-sensory, hands-on learning experiences

• Ongoing practice and reinforcement to build fluency

This approach allows students to build confidence in math while developing strong foundational skills that support long-term success. Instruction is designed to engage learners of all ability levels and provide multiple pathways for understanding, ensuring that each student can progress at a pace that supports meaningful growth.

Autism Helper Math Curriculum (BEACON, some classes)

For some students in our BEACON program, we utilize math curriculum from Autism Helper, designed specifically for learners with autism and related learning needs.

This curriculum provides a highly visual, structured approach to developing foundational math skills. Using real-life images, hands-on activities, and step-by-step progression, it supports students in building mathematical understanding in a way that is accessible, engaging, and age-appropriate.

Instruction focuses on:

• Foundational number sense and counting skills

• Basic operations, including addition and subtraction

• Money, time, and functional math concepts

• Patterns, shapes, and early problem-solving skills

• Real-world application of math in everyday situations

The curriculum incorporates interactive and visual supports to help students apply skills across settings and build independence. Embedded assessments allow for ongoing progress monitoring, ensuring that instruction remains aligned to each student’s needs and growth.

This approach is especially effective for students who benefit from clear structure, repetition, and visual learning, helping them develop confidence and practical math skills for daily life.

 

Additional math curriculum is used for financial math, real-world math, and FLAME math used in our life-skills classes.

 

English Language Arts Curriculum

At Ignite Achievement Academy, reading and writing instruction is individualized to meet each student’s current level of development. In addition to core instruction, students may receive targeted curriculum supplements and additional support from Teacher Assistants in one-on-one or small group settings to reinforce skills and ensure continued progress.

SPIRE

We utilize the SPIRE family of curricula as the foundation of our English Language Arts program. This includes SPIRE Sounds Sensible, SPIRE 4th Edition, and SPIRE Next, which together provide a cohesive, research-based progression from early foundational skills through advanced reading comprehension.

SPIRE Sounds Sensible

SPIRE Sounds Sensible is designed for beginning and pre-emergent readers, as well as older students who need to build foundational literacy skills. Grounded in the Orton-Gillingham approach and the science of reading, this program provides explicit, structured instruction in phonemic awareness, letter-sound relationships, and early writing skills.

Instruction is highly interactive and multisensory, incorporating visual, auditory, and tactile strategies to help students build strong foundational skills. Through consistent routines, repeated practice, and hands-on activities, students develop early reading confidence and readiness for more advanced instruction.

SPIRE, 4th Edition

SPIRE is a comprehensive, Structured Literacy program designed for students who need explicit, systematic instruction to develop strong reading skills. It is especially effective for students with learning differences, including dyslexia, or those who have not responded to previous reading instruction.

Lessons follow a predictable, teacher-led routine that promotes mastery through guided practice and ongoing assessment. Instruction is delivered using a multisensory approach—including tactile learning, allowing students to engage with content in multiple ways and deepen understanding.

SPIRE focuses on:

• Phonics and decoding

• Reading fluency

• Vocabulary development

• Reading comprehension

Students build skills sequentially, mastering each concept before moving forward, which helps transform reading from a source of frustration into a source of confidence.

SPIRE Next

SPIRE Next is designed for students who have progressed beyond foundational phonics instruction and are ready to focus on higher-level reading and comprehension skills.

This program uses direct instruction and scaffolded practice to develop critical reading abilities through close reading strategies, a research-based approach to deepening comprehension. Students engage with texts multiple times, with each read targeting a different skill—such as comprehension, analysis of text structure or genre, and critical thinking.

SPIRE Next helps students strengthen their ability to understand, analyze, and think critically about what they read, supporting their transition toward grade-level and beyond.

Autism Helper (BEACON, some classes)

For some students in our BEACON program, we utilize curriculum from Autism Helper, designed specifically for learners with autism and related learning needs.

This curriculum provides a highly visual, structured approach to building foundational reading and language skills. Using real-life images and engaging, hands-on activities, it supports students in developing essential skills in a way that is accessible, meaningful, and age-appropriate.

Instruction focuses on:

• Foundational literacy skills, including letter recognition and letter-sound relationships

• Early reading and phonics development

• Language and communication skills

• Vocabulary, categorization, and functional language use

• Sentence structure and early writing skills

The curriculum incorporates a variety of visual supports and interactive activities to help students apply skills across settings and build independence. Embedded assessments allow for ongoing progress monitoring, ensuring that instruction remains aligned to each student’s needs and growth.

This approach is especially effective for students who benefit from clear structure, repetition, and visual learning, helping them build confidence and make meaningful progress in both communication and literacy.

Mystery Writing is a complete, standards-aligned program differentiated for students. It uses engaging videos to spark creativity and engage students in the writing process and is adaptable for many grade levels. 

Novel Studies: Beginning in mid-elementary grades, students participate in novel studies to further develop reading comprehension, vocabulary, and critical thinking skills. Through guided discussion and structured activities, students deepen their understanding of texts while building the ability to analyze, interpret, and connect to what they read.

Additional ELA curriculum is used in our FLAME life-skills classes that focuses on real-word skills relating to adulthood transition.

 

Science Curriculum

A number of science curriculums are utilized to engage and excite students at various academic levels and ages as they dive into physical, earth, and life sciences. All curriculums use a phenomena-based approach, in alignment with Next Generation Science Standards, to encourage students to discover connections to the 'real world', ask interest based questions, and make sense of the observable world. 

Mystery Science is an innovative, standards-aligned, hands-on curriculum that teaches students how to think like scientists. Through engaging, phenomenon-driven lessons and videos, students explore real-world concepts while developing their ability to observe, question, and communicate about the world around them through writing and discussion. Each unit incorporates interactive experiments and activities that bring learning to life, making science both meaningful and highly engaging for students. This curriculum often becoms a favorite part of the student's day - especially the dinosaur bone hunt in the early grades!

Generation Genius was developed in partnership with the National Science Teaching Association and includes hands-on experiments and projects for every topic, making it a favorite curriculum among our students! 

IAA also utilizes a variety of textbooks from Discovery Education and McGraw Hill as the base for high school level courses.

 

Social Studies/History Curriculum

Similar to Science, IAA utilizes a number of curricular programs to meet the varying academic needs and age-appropriate learning of students. Topics covered include community & citizenship, World Geography, World History, American History, and Civics & Economics. 

Specific history & social studies curriculums include McGraw Hill, the Attainment Company, and STAR Autism.

IAA also utilizes a variety of textbooks from McGraw Hill and Pearson as the base for high school level courses.