The Lower School is composed of Kindergarten through 4th grade. Their instructional program consists of math, reading, phonics, grammar, spelling, science, social studies, handwriting and religion. Our reading program for 1st through 4th is comprised of two systems. While Kindergarten uses small group instruction, the teachers in 1st through 4th grade teach reading using leveled readers in small guided reading groups and whole group reading using anthologies. We also have a reading specialist who is certified in Orton-Gillingham and trained in Wilson to work with our children who need specialized instruction to help them attain their grade level in reading. We also provide instructional aides to assist the teachers in the Lower School. This extra assistance not only provides support for students of need, but it also reduces the student to adult ratio in the classroom ensuring that there is an adult to assist all the children. Every year we have two aides assigned to kindergarten and one aide assigned to 1st grade. We place aides in the other classrooms dependent upon the class size. Ensuring that our children are successful is always our goal. Each classroom at the Lower School has a SMART Board. Also each classroom has a cart of Chromebooks with enough computers for each student. The students use the Chromebooks as part of their instructional program and they receive keyboarding classes once a week.

The Upper School is departmentalized and consists of grades 5 through 8. We use a 6 day schedule that enables us to provide several double periods per week in all major subject areas. Every student is taught math, language arts, social studies, science, religion, and special area subjects consisting of art, music, PE and Spanish. In addition to learning subject specific content, study skills instruction is embedded into all aspects of the children’s learning. In every class, the children are taught to use organizational tools so they can track their classwork and homework. They use graphic organizers to develop story lines and to outline materials. The children are taught to develop their own study guides and how to take notes. The staff models study techniques for the children when conducting test reviews. The upper school staff works collaboratively to ensure consistency with regards to work quality, quantity, and expectations in all Upper School classes. Our math program at the Upper School consists of two options. We provide a typically paced program for most of our students and we provide an advanced math program for children who are truly gifted in math. While our classes generally move at an accelerated pace due to our ability to focus on instruction rather than behaviors, our advanced math program is very accelerated. Students in 5th and 6th grades are expected to complete 3 years of math instruction in 2 years. As 7th grade students, they will take Algebra 1, then as 8th grade students they will take Geometry. The academic goal for these children is that as high school freshman, they can test into honors math classes or out of Algebra 1 and Geometry all together and become eligible for higher-level math classes. There are specific eligibility requirements that must be met to be considered for Advanced Math. Our technology program is state of the art. Each child in grades 5 through 8 is provided a Chromebook for their personal use throughout the school year. Using Google Apps for Education, the children’s Chromebooks have become an integral part of their daily learning experience and the teachers integrate this technology into their lessons. The children at the Upper School participate in keyboarding and coding classes. Additionally, several of our textbooks are on-line for student convenience. Additionally, each classroom is equipped with a SMART Board.

Our Special Area subjects include Art, Music, Physical Education, and Spanish. Spanish class is conducted twice a week for students in Kindergarten through 8th grade. Our goal is that by the time the students enter high school they can test out of Spanish 1 or into Honors Spanish 1 if they decide to continue with that as a foreign language. All our PK classes receive weekly Spanish instruction. The PK classes also participate in Music and Physical Education weekly, however they do not have a weekly Art Special because art is embedded into the instructional program.