Dear Parents, Guardians and Supporters:

ELOM International Academy is a new academically rigorous K-6 charter school opening in the Maple Grove-Brooklyn Park/Brooklyn Center area in the fall of 2007. It will begin with grades K-3 with approximately an initial enrollment of 130 students. One additional grade will be added each year, through grade 6. ELOM's intention is to strengthen our learning community and motivate our students through providing instruction that fully reflects the history, culture and diversity of the students it intends to reach.

Our educational philosophy is based on excellence! It will focus on the education of both the senses and the intellect through sustained engagement within a loving, supporting, challenging and exciting learning environment. At ELOM, this holistic educational model is based on the premise that each student can find identity, meaning, and purpose through connections to the community, to the natural world, and to moral and planetary values such as compassion and peace. This approach calls forth an intrinsic reverence for life and a passionate love of learning.

ELOM is different from other schools in Minnesota, and perhaps in the entire nation, in that it will carefully embed West African (along with other international cultures) into its instructional day. The Academy will provide a quality educational experience that espouses respect, as reflected through an Elders Council composed of community leaders which is indigenous to West Africa and celebrates each child's unique learning abilities and needs. Our Elder's Council will both support our mission and ensure that our students receive the mentorship and guidance that can truly serve them throughout their lives.

In a real sense, we view the Academy not only as a rigorous alternative and adjunct to traditional educational school options, but also as a village and a catalyst for revitalizing our greater community. We will encourage the use of the facility in the evenings and on weekends for various neighboring activities and ongoing learning initiatives that extend beyond the school itself. This is also an extension of West Africa customs and culture, where each family participates intimately in the fabric of a village or community.

Education in this environment will help our children to feel more at home, comfortable and nurtured as part of an extended family, creating a necessary and supportive framework for learning and for higher academic achievement.

Sincerely,
Comfort Lartey-Ofori
Founder