Academics

Child Find

Child Find requires school districts to have a process for identifying and evaluating children who may need special education and related services, such as counseling or speech therapy.  Even children as young as infants and toddlers can be evaluated. If a child qualifies for needing additional support, they can start receiving the help they need for learning disabilities and developmental delays through the government’s early intervention programs. These programs help parents find out if their young children are on track. Then, if needed, the programs can connect families with appropriate services early in the child’s life.

Kindergarten

Reading and number sense are the most important skills that students develop in Kindergarten. Our full day program (8:00 AM to 2:00 PM) provides a deeper understanding of language arts by focusing on the literacy elements of phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension. Language arts is combined with subjects like science and social studies so that children are able to build their skills while exploring the world and its history. Kindergarten students will begin their knowledge of mathematics by understanding the relationship between numbers and quantities and by building a solid foundation for understanding place value. They will learn to count to 100 by ones and tens, write numbers from 0 to 20, and identify and describe both two- and three-dimensional geometric shapes as well as their relative positions.

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First & Second

First-grade students extend their knowledge of language arts in significant and exciting ways by learning skills that enable them to read and write more independently. Students will increase their academic and content-specific vocabulary by reading a variety of literature and informational text. As first-grade students learn to write for different purposes, they’re able to apply their growing knowledge of language structures and conventions. Students in first grade will extend their knowledge of mathematics as they learn to add and subtract within 20, develop an understanding of whole numbers and place value within 100, measure and order objects by length, interpret data, work with shapes to compose new shapes, and partition shapes to create “equal shares.”

For students in second grade, instruction focuses on further developing literacy and proficiency in language arts with the goal of helping students become lifelong readers, competent writers, and effective communicators. Literacy is critical to academic success and is the key to becoming an independent learner in all of the other subjects. In second grade, skills such as fluency, comprehension, and analysis are the focus of reading instruction. Students will ask and answer clarifying questions about text, be able to identify and locate important information within text, and consider the author’s purpose,  Students in second grade also extend their understanding of place value, build fluency in addition and subtraction, and start to use simple concepts of multiplication and division. They measure the length of objects by using appropriate tools and identify shapes and their attributes. They will learn how to model and solve problems involving amounts of money and use graphs to represent and interpret data.

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Third & Fourth

Third grade is often considered a pivotal year as instruction in phonics is phased out of the formal curriculum. In third grade, increased emphasis is placed on vocabulary acquisition, comprehension strategies, text analysis, language conventions, and writing. Students learn to use context as an independent vocabulary strategy. They learn to refer to information in the text when asking and answering questions about texts they have read. They apply analysis strategies to determine the theme or central message of text. They learn about subject and verb agreement and verb tenses and use that knowledge to write and speak in correct, complete sentences. As students learn more English language conventions and acquire new vocabulary, they practice them in their writing assignments.  The ability to read, write, and use language effectively is an essential foundation for each student’s future.

Third-grade students expand their understanding of place value and start to cement their knowledge of and skill with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers. Students develop an understanding of fractions as numbers, concepts of area and perimeter, and attributes of various shapes.

Students in fourth grade are in a new stage of reading and learning. This stage can be categorized as reading and learning for life.  Students in fourth grade read a wide range of literature from different genres and centered around different cultures and times. They study the structural elements of poems, prose, and dramas and learn to summarize text in a concise manner. As they analyze informational text, students consider its overall structure and organization, the differences between first- and secondhand accounts, and how the author uses evidence to support points in the text. There is more focus on academic language and domain-specific vocabulary, which supports reading and listening comprehension, writing, and speaking. Students learn and practice a range of strategies for acquiring vocabulary independently.

Fourth-grade students will perform multi-digit arithmetic. They will use large whole numbers to fluently add and subtract and to develop fluency with multiplication and division. They will develop an understanding of fraction equivalence, addition and subtraction of fractions (with like denominators), and multiplication of fractions by whole numbers. Students will classify geometric shapes based on properties (i.e., parallel or perpendicular sides, angle measurements, and symmetry).

Fifth

Deeper analysis of literature and instruction is a focus for fifth grade. They will practice the foundational reading skills learned in previous grades to read accurately and fluently, but the emphasis in fifth grade is on the students’ comprehension of complex narratives and informational texts. Students read two or more texts on a topic and use a variety of comprehension strategies to compare, contrast, synthesize, and integrate information from the texts. They analyze how structure, point of view, visual elements, and figurative language contribute to the meaning or tone of texts. As their text-analysis skills deepen, students are able to determine the main themes or points of a text, understand how the author’s evidence and reasons support the theme or argument of the text, and draw inferences or conclusions supported by details from the text. They learn academic language and domain-specific vocabulary through their reading and use it in their writing and speaking.

Students in fifth grade apply their understanding of fractions and fraction models to represent the addition and subtraction of fractions with unlike denominators. They develop an understanding of the multiplication of fractions and, in limited cases, the division of fractions. Students develop fluency in multiplying and dividing decimals to hundredths and finalize fluency using the four operations with whole numbers. They find the volume of right rectangular prisms and classify two-dimensional figures into categories based on their properties. Students graph points on a coordinate plane to solve real-world problems and interpret the coordinate value of points in the context of the situation.

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Middle School Grades 6-8

Students in sixth grade focus on active engagement with text. They are required to analyze, identify, define, explain, integrate, evaluate, compare, contrast, and cite supportive evidence. Deeper analysis of literature and informational text continues to be the focus of sixth-grade instruction, although reading fluently and accurately remains a Standards-based goal for all students.

Sixth-grade students develop an understanding of the concept of a ratio and use ratio reasoning to solve a variety of real-world and mathematical problems, including those involving unit pricing and constant speed. Students extend their understanding of operations with fractions to include multiplying and dividing. They locate rational numbers on a number line, add and subtract negative numbers, and graph points in all four quadrants of the coordinate plane. Students write expressions and equations with variables and apply the properties of operations to generate equivalent expressions. They build upon the foundation of area to determine area and volume of more complex shapes.

In seventh grade, the English language arts standards establish a higher level of communication skills and comprehension strategies. Students demonstrate a growing understanding by connecting ideas and information in two or more texts and analyzing and evaluating textual evidence more carefully. Their writing reflects both a deeper understanding of texts and the interrelationship between reading and writing as they draw evidence to support their claims and convey concepts and ideas. Seventh grade students build on their communication and collaboration skills from earlier grades. As they engage in collaborative discussions, they are able to acknowledge and analyze new information and, when appropriate, modify their own view based on the new information. Students continue to acquire and use general academic language and domain-specific vocabulary. They also learn to use precise and concise language to express themselves in their speaking and writing.

Seventh grade students will extend their understanding of and apply proportional relationships, including percentages;  develop understanding of operations with rational numbers and working with expressions and linear equations; solve problems involving scale drawings and informal geometric constructions, and work with two- and three-dimensional shapes to solve problems involving area, surface area, and volume; and draw inferences about populations based on samples. Students also work toward fluently solving equations.

In preparation for high school and beyond, students in eighth grade must have a firm grasp of skills to be a literate person in the twenty-first century. They read and respond to significant works of literature and examine how modern works of fiction draw on traditional themes and characters. Given informational text, students will read critically the arguments and specific claims in a text, assessing conflicting evidence and viewpoints. Students will connect their reading to their writing by drawing evidence from literary and informational texts when writing analyses or short research projects. In eighth grade, students build on the communication and collaboration skills from earlier grades. As they engage in collaborative discussions, they probe and reflect on discussion topics and are able to justify their own views in light of evidence presented by others. Students continue to acquire and accurately use general academic language and domain-specific vocabulary. Eighth-grade students will build on their understanding of proportional relationships and solve related real-world and mathematical problems. They will apply this understanding to graphing and solving linear equations and systems of linear equations. Students will comprehend the concept of a function and use functions to describe quantitative relationships. They describe and analyze two- and three-dimensional figures using using distance, angle, similarity, and congruence as well as understanding and applying the Pythagorean Theorem. Students also work toward fluency with solving simple sets of two equations with two unknowns by inspection.