At FCA, there are some attributes that make us look different from many other schools. We refer to these attributes as Academy Values.
Character Education: We know that our students not only need a solid foundation in academics; they also need to embrace virtuous living. We teach, celebrate, and expect students and staff to display the virtues each day. You can look up as you enter the building to see these virtues circling the rotunda.
Consistency: The staff at Fort Caspar Academy is very collaborative. We know that the power of many exceeds the power of one. We are consistent in our approaches to curriculum, behavior, and delivery of instruction.
Discipline: Our staff is very loving and compassionate. FCA teachers consistently are recognized by past students for their firm but fair approach to behaviors. We believe that ALL students deserve a safe environment conducive to the other values listed. In order to ensure maximum learning, we have a building-wide discipline system that includes consistent expectations and consequences.
Dress Code: Staff and students come dressed for success each day at Fort Caspar Academy. Some components of our dress code include shirts being tucked, belts in pants with belt loops, and modesty. Our full dress code requirements can be found here.
Excellence: At Fort Caspar Academy, we are driven by excellence. Many of our students go onto colleges, professions, military, and other strong career paths. This is due in part to the excellent foundation they receive at Fort Caspar Academy.
High Expectations: We believe in high expectations for ALL learners. Students are challenged by our rigorous curriculum and structured system daily.
High Time on Task: Time for learning is intentionally protected at Fort Caspar Academy. Students learn at a fast pace. We minimize classroom and school distractions to allow for maximum learning to occur.
Homework: Responsibility and school-home support are cherished values at Fort Caspar Academy. We provide homework Monday through Thursday for all students. Parents are expected to support their children by looking over homework and discussing academics as an advantage for their child’s future.
Parent Partnerships: We know that when we are on the same page, greater results are possible. We believe strongly in the metaphorical three-legged stool. One leg is the staff at Fort Caspar Academy. One leg is the student. One leg is the parents. A stool can be propped up and supported to stand without a leg, but it can never hold the weight of a stool that has all three legs solid and strong. Parents at FCA are involved in all facets of their child’s education. On this note, our parents are expected to volunteer ten hours per semester.
Structure: Students are provided with daily routines and structure each day in every area of the school. Predictable schedules and procedures increase learning.
Fort Caspar Academy (FCA) is a public school within the Natrona County School District (NCSD) in Casper, Wyoming. FCA serves students from grades kindergarten to fifth grade. It was established in 1995 by a group of parents as an initiative in school reform and has stirred interest because of an innovative approach that combines traditional concepts of instruction and discipline with a modern understanding of childhood cognitive processes. This takes place in a school environment that is caring and nurturing, where highly trained professional staff are concerned not only with scholastic discipline, but also with each student as a person.
FCA students, teachers, and staff started the 2008/2009 school year in a new building. Over $100,000 was raised by parents and teachers for playground equipment at the new site. Kindergartners enjoy their own secure playground area. Each classroom is equipped with laptop computers for large group instruction and assessment. Housed within the library is an Academic Focus room with stadium seating that can accommodate larger groups for presentations.
Fort Caspar Academy is honored to be recognized by the United States Department of Education as a 2016 National Blue Ribbon School. Our school received specific recognition as an Exemplary High Performing School. Exemplary High Performing Schools are nominated by the State Superintendent of Schools. In order to be eligible a school must be in the top fifteen percent of all schools in the state based on state assessments of reading and math and on other school performance measures.
Additionally, a nominated school must be ranked in the top forty percent of all schools in the state for performance of students of diverse populations. This achievement looks at the school’s performance over a number of years and is due to the outstanding performance of staff, parents, and students throughout Fort Caspar Academy’s history.
Core Knowledge is a philosophy that believes that students need to learn a broad body of knowledge in order to be successful as a reader, in academics as a whole, and citizenship. Since its inception, Fort Caspar Academy has used the Core Knowledge sequence as a foundation for our curriculum content.
The Core Virtues program is a practical, non-sectarian approach to character education on the kindergarten to fifth grade levels.
The virtues highlighted each month are common ground, consensus virtues, and not controversial social or political agendas. The objective is to ignite the imagination of the young, inspiring them to do and be their best.
