If it’s broken, fix it.

Years ago, Larry Garatoni and Steve Hartz recognized a deficit in South Bend education: Students were falling behind due to lack of access to quality educational resources and passionate, skilled teachers.

So they built Success Academy—a charter school in South Bend that would provide students with access to high-quality education in a positive and inspirational environment where they could feel accepted and encouraged.

But they didn’t stop there. Success Academy is continually evaluating its approach and striving to create an educational experience that is challenging, inclusive, and provides students with opportunities to grow through real-world experience.

Barriers removed. Skills improved.

By creating an exceptional academic environment that both nurtures and challenges, Success Academy empowers students to maximize their talents and pursue their dreams. Here are just a few of the ways we do that:

  • We are open to all—regardless of ZIP code. Our students are here by choice—and our community is stronger as a result.
  • We don’t charge tuition, and free or reduced-price lunches are available to qualifying students.
  • Small and safe. Your student will know—and be known by—their classmates and teachers.
Success Academy South Bend - student in classroom smiling

Small learning communities offer big advantages.

Success Academy’s grade levels and classrooms are organized into small learning communities that consist of a group of modular spaces around a central flex area. This design:

  • Enables teachers to have many smaller classrooms or one larger one for cooperative projects and events
  • Facilitates immersive learning experiences for students
  • Allows individual rooms to adapt to different space requirements on a class-by-class basis

There’s no substitute for hands-on experience.

Your student will engage with real-world problems in interactive learning environments that prepare them to thrive:

  • Success Academy is a fully certified S.T.E.M. school, meaning your student will benefit from an integrated educational approach to learning science, technology, engineering, and math that models the way problems are solved in the real world.
  • Project Lead the Way Programming. Research demonstrates that students participating in Project Lead the Way outperform their peers in school, are better prepared for college, and are more likely to consider S.T.E.M. careers than other students.
  • We use a Project-Based Learning approach, which research has revealed is more enjoyable for most students—and more effective for absorbing, understanding, and utilizing complex material.
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