1% Better

What is 1% Better?

1% Better Every day @ Academia Antonia Alonso Charter School

When you focus on getting 1% better every day, there is no end, no destination — only continuous growth and improvement.  1% better every day is a drastic change, believe it or not. To give you some perspective, 1% better every day for 365 days is 37.78% better each and every year. 

At La Academia, that is what we strive for- whether you are a student, teacher, staff, parent or board member, 1% better every day is the goal.  We look for small things we can improve on every day, in our personal, professional or educational lives, instead of focusing on major things to change. The idea of small, continual, incremental improvement is known as the Kaizen method.  

Kaizan is a Japanese word that means change for the better.  It is the practice of improving yourself, or a process, by taking small, incremental, daily actions, which then forms habits that stick and, ultimately, help you succeed.

1% better every day may be to do something- coming up with a practice that will help a student become better at completing homework or class assignments, a practice for helping them prepare for tests, or the practice of looking at people in the eye to build self-confidence.  It may also be a practice to be something –become more creative, less judgmental, more loving, patient or kind with ourselves, and others.  Whatever the small, incremental, daily practice students, families, teachers, staff and leaders take at La Academia, ultimately impacts and improves the overall function of our school – from the classroom to our board room.

At La Academia, one of our core values is NEVER GIVE UP. We teach our children life is a journey, not a race and growth is a gradual process, not an overnight success. As teachers and staff, to grow and become 1 percent better every day starts by believing WE CAN.   To help our students grow and become 1 percent better every day starts by empowering our them to believe THEY CAN – and that UNIDOS WE CAN DO ANYTHING!