Our Mission

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Our Mission

To inspire students to cultivate their own intellectual and artistic voices in a supportive community grounded in knowledge, creativity, and critical thinking.

Our Vision

We envision Northwest Academy as a hub of educational and community activity in downtown Portland, celebrated for blending academic challenge, artistic expression, and civic experience for each and every student.

Core Values

Northwest Academy’s core values guide the Board, administration, faculty, and staff in their efforts to provide students with a challenging and unique education. It is the school’s understanding that a student culture with these important values must be strategically developed and upheld.

List of 5 items.

Academics & Arts

An education in both academics and the arts results in a more complete and balanced individual to inform a productive, inspired, and meaningful life.
Talented Faculty

Our teachers are passionate about their subject areas, supporting the kind of free and open inquiry that fosters lifelong learning.
Student Engagement

Student curiosity and creative thinking is encouraged and nurtured by accomplished and energetic faculty who welcome participation and debate.
Thriving Environment for Students

Students thrive in a culture of acceptance where both individuality and collaboration are fostered and celebrated.
Proficiency-Based Placement

A focus on proficiency-based placement enhances student motivation and initiative while allowing them to work at an educational pace that suits their needs.

List of 5 items.

Creativity

One of the cornerstones of our school, creativity is central our academic and arts programs and to the development of adaptable, innovative thinkers.
Diversity & Perspective

Intellectual and artistic courage grow from a culture that stimulates fascination with ideas and diversity of perspective.
Motivation & Advocation

Students achieve more when they are guided to be self-reliant, intrinsically motivated, and to advocate for themselves.
Nurturing & Supportive Environment

We recognize talent in our faculty, students, and administrators, fostering an environment that nurtures and supports achievement, curiosity, risk-taking, hard work, and questioning.
Psychologically Safe Environment

Students reach higher personal levels when they work in a psychologically safe environment and feel known and supported by both faculty and classmates.

Diversity Statement

A commitment to equity and inclusion lies at the heart of Northwest Academy’s culture, and we strive to carry it out through our arts and academic partnerships. We value the uniqueness of each student, family member, teacher, and staff member; their diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives create a culture rich with mutual respect and authenticity. The Northwest Academy community values all ethnicities, races, cultures, religions, economic backgrounds, family structures, sexual and gender identities, and abilities. Ongoing efforts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential to our staff and to our students’ abilities to develop into thoughtful and creative global citizens. Reach out to the DICE team at dice@nwacademy.org.