School History & Profile

School History and our Founders

Originally from Washington, D.C and a daughter of the principal of Capitol Page School, Kathy Nelson’s perspective was seriously influenced by growing up in a rich melting pot of diversity. Her vision for World Academy was informed by her social justice background and the wonderful role models she found all around her in our Nation’s Capitol every day.

Building The Foundations For Our Learning Community

While teaching in local schools, Kathy founded Small World Learning Center in 1980, after assessing the need for organized and high quality child care and education for working families in the Greater Nashua area. Having taken graduate courses from Gwen and Henry Morgan, well known Early Childhood gurus, at Wheelock College in Boston, she and her husband, Gary, started a program for 38 children from ages 3 to 5 years old, based on the theories of Erik Erikson, John Dewey and Jean Piaget, focusing on the health, learning styles and stages of development of young children.

From that beginning the school’s pedagogy, vision and location expanded exponentially to the World Academy of today which serves over 500 students, daily, in programs from Infant through Grade 8 in dually accredited, integrated, widely acclaimed programs, on a world class campus, while espousing the same tenet that was embraced then…in order to truly and authentically educate, nurture and enrich the ‘whole child’, we must include the whole family.

Today, our mission is: “To prepare our students for success in a diverse and rapidly changing world through a transformative and innovative education, a whole child focus, family engagement.”

Driving Student Success With Proven Methods

Thoughtfully expanded over the years, World Academy is designed to provide authentic, progressive experiences that promote cognitive, social, emotional, physical, creative and cultural development and higher level thinking. Classes address individual learning styles, multiple intelligences, personalization for our students and are based on innovative curriculum models embracing problem solving, creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking skills.

We strive to support student learning to understand How and Where to find the information they will need to create the jobs of tomorrow and become leaders in their global futures. Students are taught in collaborative groups by inspired teachers in a world class environment that nurtures cohesiveness, empathy, and the love of learning.

The curriculum is constantly being assessed, expanded and enriched by new education and neuroscience research to give students “a world of opportunities” and more comprehensive information about their world.

Licensed by the NH Bureau of Child Care Standards and Licensing and accredited by the prestigious New England Association of Schools and Colleges, World Academy is a leader in Early Childhood, Elementary and Middle School education with a Summer Camp component and stands alone with such high quality programs, dual accreditation and service to such a varied age range in all of New Hampshire.