5. Business Model/Plan
5.2. Key Performance Indicators
5.2.1. Key Activities
5.2.1.3. Special Activities
different schools, it may be in a particular school’s best interest to alter these ratios in order to remain competitive.
Note: Two of the more important standards for reference purposes will be: For the English-Only classes a minimum of 3 NEST taught classes a day with a NNEST teacher able to substitute at most 1 of the 3. For the Bilingual classes, half of the English classes must be taught by a NNEST or a NEST teacher and a NEST teacher must teach at least one class a day.
5.2.1.3. Special Activities
Some special activities that may differentiate our kindergarten from others are:
• Best Student Awards:
The school holds an assembly the first period of every Friday in honor of this week’s best students. The period starts off with a little ceremony, a discussion of the importance of the award and the purpose for doing it.
Children are then reminded of the rewards that come with working hard.
The class then proceeds into a period full of physical activities and games for the children. A highlight for the children is the interaction with other children from other grades and levels. At the end of the period certificates are given to a chosen student from each class and photos are taken for their scrap book.
• Class Leader:
Each week a student is chosen to be the class leader. That student not only is chosen to help their teacher, but to learn how to delegate tasks and choose others in helping.
• Competitions:
A variety of class, school, and franchise wide competitions will be held every semester. Student participation is voluntary and based on their availability of time. Competitions can vary from spelling bees and oral reading competitions to things like class cleanliness, or the number of
‧
mistakes made or simple acts of selflessness. The number and frequency of the competitions will generally vary by school with only one or two
compulsory franchise wide competitions.
• Social Development:
Social development lessons focus on behavior, manners and etiquette that are appropriate for a child and future member of society. During this segment we also help parents instill family values, talk about family
involvement in activities and reinforce the importance of one’s family. Since the majority of parents that have students enrolled in our school
are hard vigil working people, we also talk about the roles of mommies and daddies in the work place and help students adjust to any absenteeism that may occur on unintentionally on their parent’s behalf.
• Field Trips and Outings:
Field trips and outings represent one facet that makes school more real and practical for a growing child. Within our 26 week semester (approximately 6 months) we will have on average 4 field trips, that is one approximately every 6 weeks.
• Make the World a Better Place:
Make the world a better place is an Abraham Academic Academy original and features a set of campaigns initiated by head-office. Some examples of this campaign that will be employed by our schools were illustrated in the promotion section 4.8.4 of the marketing 4-P’s. The franchise also
encourages franchisees to continue on with and develop activities as they deem fit.
• Geography:
The geography segment of our curriculum features the "Exploration of New
‧
consider multiculturalism to be one of our main values and we want to enhance it through our students’ exposure to different cultures. The idea behind this class is to introduce students to fun and traditional activities (crafts, dance, music, sports, etc.) from places all around the world. The curriculum will have monthly themes (Spanish, French, Middle-Eastern, Western, African, etc.) with weekly classes focusing on specific elements (under the monthly theme of the middle east we would include weekly topic knowledge that covers Egypt, Israel, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, belly dancing, the Muslim heritage and types of food and spices). The monthly themes will allow time for students to absorb the knowledge before rotating to a different cultural environment.• Math: Academic Academy choose to conform to the use of the MPM program.
MPM is a self-learning system designed for K-6 grade students and is personalized for each student. MPM stands for Multi-Process-Model. Its design is based on multi-process and multi-model mathematics. MPM program uses manipulative tools to help students build a strong math foundation by focusing on the development of critical thinking, logical inference, problem solving, and independent study skills. The ideal age for new student is 5-8 years old. The program normally requires two sessions per week. This program is very popular among Chinese communities as many instructors are Chinese.
MPM was established since 1989 and more than 100,000 students and centers all over the world.
‧
questions and making observations. Each lesson is constructed around a book to read as a story to the children and a worksheet to complete. Each lesson also has props for visualization purposes and a simple experiment to conduct. A sample of our Science schedule is attached below in Figure 23 at the end of this section for reference.• Saturday with Family and Friends:
Saturday with Family and Friends comes from our belief that family and education should be always linked and that parents should be included in a child’s education. With the Saturday with Family and Friends program our goals are: to provide a variety of fun activities where the parents can join in and enjoy some precious time with their kids; to allow parents a place to mingle and interact; to facilitate a parent-child relationship that encompasses the school; to provide an informal way for children to communicate their weekly performance to their parents; and to allow parental concerns to be brought to the attention of the school. Saturday with Family and Friends consists of a half day schedule from 10am to 2pm, during which time 3 main activities will be conducted:
• Family Theater and Story Book Time: This activity consists of either teachers or students putting on a little show for an audience.
‧
• Family activities: Access to the play-yard, playground facilities with optional planned games that students and parents can drop-in and participate-in.
• Lunch time: Informal lunch in order to advance parental relations and teacher-parents relations.
• Weekend Camp Services:
Several times a semester we will host a camping event for the children that will take place over the weekend. Children can come to school or to the designated location that the event will be held. Kids will be able to play and learn in an academic environment with their friends while developing important social skills that are crucial to a child’s development. An assortment of games, activities or sightseeing will be scheduled to engage the children while reinforcing the learning process. However, Abraham Academic Academy is not only doing this with our students’ best intentions in mind, but to provide the parents with a weekend off to enjoy by themselves, to be free from the relentless parental concerns that take a toll on a family. Parents can remain care free and relaxed during this weekend as the children will be cared for in a controlled and supervised environment.
• Physical Education and Athletic Days:
A little hand-eye coordination with a sprinkle of physical activity and some good old-fashioned fresh air are the perfect ingredients for a little growing body. A little regiment of exercise is endorsed at all of our schools as seen with our P.E and extracurricular athletic days programs. Each school can choose from an assortment of athletic days to host, like a traditional sports day or a milk run. There will be some days for just the kids that will occur during the school week and some days for the whole family to participate in that will be held on the weekends. A sample of one of our P.E schedules is attached for reference below in Figure 24 at the end of this section.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 23: The Science Curriculum Schedule for semester 1 and 2
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 23 continued: The Science Curriculum Schedule for semester 1 and 2
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 23 continued: The Science Curriculum Schedule for semester 1 and 2
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 23 continued: The Science Curriculum Schedule for semester 1 and 2
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 24: The Physical Education Curriculum Schedule for semester 1 and 2
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 24 continued: The Physical Education Curriculum Schedule for semester 1 and 2
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 24 continued: The Physical Education Curriculum Schedule for semester 1 and 2
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 24 continued: The Physical Education Curriculum Schedule for semester 1 and 2
‧
The key resources that are available to and ready for the school to employ at will as described by Abraham Academic Academy’s business model are our premises; facilities and amenities;
and personnel.
5.2.2.1. Premises
The location of our flagship school will be in suburban Taipei. Initially, we are looking to rent, but eventually want to own the property. Therefore, with respect to leasing terms, we are looking for a minimum of a 6 year contract with an option to either renew or buy when the contact is up. The premise must have access to both indoor and outdoor areas/facilities. The total interior area of the premise has to be somewhere between 661 and 1,322 square-meters (between 200 and 400 pings) depending on lay out. The exterior area that is to be used as a playground (see note below) should be on the order of 661 square meters (200 pings). If the premise does not have an outdoor area, arrangements must be made to facilitate access to one that can use used.
Taipei proper has been ruled out as a candidate for our initial kindergarten location for many reasons. Some factors involve Taipei's high real-estate costs; a developed, saturated and mature language and cram school market; and facility constraints due to the overdeveloped and sprawling nature of the city. For these reasons suburban Taipei is more appealing, while providing access to many other important key resources chiefly available in Taipei. A future Taipei school is not out of the question, but will not be considered for the purposes of our initial investment.
Since an exact location has yet to be determined, three possible locations are listed for reference purposes in suburban Taipei that provide an ideal setting with both commercial and residential options in mind: Xindian near the QiZhang MRT station; NeiHu DaZhi district south-west of JianNan rd. MRT station and between the Miramar shopping mall and the BinJiang Elementary and High schools; or in BanQiao in the proximity of BanQiao city hall and FuZhong MRT stations. Due to the importance of choosing the right location we are open to suggestions and will consider other locations if the right opportunity comes along. The