BELOIT — The Lincoln Academy, a K4-12 public charter school which opened in the fall of 2021, is growing its student population as it focuses on career preparedness and character development.

“The level of expectation causes scholars to rise higher and be more,” Interim Principal Tavi Riddle said in a January interview. “It’s mind-boggling what they can do.”

From the custodial and office staff to teachers and administrators, Riddle said everyone is pulling together and putting in extra effort to help kids succeed academically.

BELOIT - The Lions' Lens, a quarterly newsletter filled with updates and activity highlights, is our way of sharing all of the great things happening at TLA throughout the year with you. Enjoy these updates from the third quarter of 2022-2023! 

Kansas City, MO (March 16, 2023) - Make48 is returning to Beloit, Wisconsin this year with their 48-hour invention competition. Last year the event surpassed all expectations and The Lincoln Academy will once again host the 2023 event. Teams will build a prototype for the challenge with a new set of participants. The competition is set to take place August 11-13, 2023. Applications are now open.

BELOIT - This recording of a virtual information session provides a general overview of The Lincoln Academy and includes a Q&A component that allowed participants to submit specific questions.

Members of The Lincoln Academy Leadership Team participating in the session included:

Dr. Kristi Cole, Chief Education Officer
Laura Benish, Director of Career Planning & Partnerships
Kari Flitz, Chief Instruction Officer
Yolanda Rivera, Director of Scholar Services
Jamie Merath, Chief Financial Officer
Priscilla El-Amin, Principal, 6th-12th grades
Tavi Riddle, Principal, K4-5th grades
Ryan Anderson, Dean of Scholars, K4-5th grades

BELOIT - The Lions' Lens, a quarterly newsletter filled with updates and activity highlights, is our way of sharing all of the great things happening at TLA throughout the year with you. Enjoy these updates from the second quarter of 2022-2023!

BELOIT- Beginning Feb. 1, The Lincoln Academy will start accepting student applications for the next school year set to begin in September 2023.

Applications can be submitted online to thelincolnacademybeloit.com or at the school office from 8 a.m. — 4 p.m. Monday through Friday between. Completed applications are accepted on a rolling basis after the last day of February and are processed.

The academy will be accepting students in Kindergarten through Grade 4 and in Grades 6 through 11.

“In 2022, we had (students) in Kindergarten through third grade and sixth through 10th grade,” said Kristi Cole, Chief Education Officer at the Lincoln Academy.

BELOIT—A city with a rich history of innovation nurtured its newest inventors on Saturday.

Creative students and adults created prototypes ranging from remote-controlled reindeer to snowball catapults as part of the Make48 invent-a-thon held at The Lincoln Academy (TLA) Friday through Sunday.

Make48 is hosting maker competitions in eight U.S. cities this year. It selected Beloit as one of its event locations thanks to a Beloit College connection.

BELOIT—The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released results of the Wisconsin Students Assessment System exam that was given to The Lincoln Academy students during the 2021-22 school year.

A total of 137 students took the Forward Exam and 53 freshmen students took the ACT Aspire, according to a Lincoln Academy news release.

The Forward Exam proficiency rates for Lincoln Academy students included 19% for math, 25% for English language arts, 24% for science and 46% for social studies. ACT Aspire proficiency rates were 23% for math, 47% for English language arts and 32% for science.

BELOIT—Beloit College is seeking creative minds to invent and innovate to better the community.

A 48-hour invention competition will take place at The Lincoln Academy starting on Nov. 4.

The event is titled Make48 and takes place across eight different cities, where teams will compete by solving a problem through invention.

The teams are all given challenge criteria at the beginning of the competition, then they are to build their prototypes within that criteria.

BELOIT- A Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) program will be coming to The Lincoln Academy in January of 2023.

On Monday, The Lincoln Academy was approved for a NJROTC program by Naval Service Training Command.

“This is our school’s first JROTC program and first program involved with the armed forces,” said Kristi Y. Cole, Chief Education Officer for The Lincoln Academy.

“We started planning for this and applied for the program during our planning year, a year prior to TLA opening,” Cole recalled. “We felt a partnership with the Navy would be a perfect fit for The Lincoln Academy as we have Fairbanks Morse as one of our partners who works closely with the Navy. Plus, we are on a wonderful body of water, the Rock River, and we would be the first NJROTC program in the state of Wisconsin.”

Vito Gabriele was wading through Lenigan Creek near Beloit Memorial High School on Saturday, plucking all sorts of trash and debris from the waters.

“We’ve found bicycle tires, glass, plastic shopping bags and even an entire bicycle,” he said as he hauled a kayak full of trash to shore.

Gabriele was cleaning the creek as part of his Eagle Scout project. The 15-year-old student at The Lincoln Academy had plenty of help from friends and family. His mother, Anji Gabriele, and his uncle Kevin Sopczak, were there to lend a hand, as well as other Eagle Scouts, Brice Henthorn, Hunter Zittlow  and Matthew Locke. His scout leader Ryan McKillips also was present.

The Lincoln Academy in Beloit is reporting schoolwide student growth in math and reading metrics.

The Lincoln Academy Governance Board and administration teams reviewed the results of second semester Measures of Academic Program testing and noted the growth, according to a school release.

The test measures reading and math growth, the school says. The Lincoln Academy reported that the second semester saw a 146% growth rate in math and 116% in reading, with a 100% growth rate equal to one year of growth, according to the release. The progress measured in testing is compared to projected growth students are expected to achieve during the academic year.