Mathematics

The 3-5 Mathematics program provides an exciting and enriching opportunity for students.  With the curriculum carefully aligned to the state mathematics standards, each child will receive the instruction and support that should enable him/her to achieve at or beyond what is expected.  Beginning in Grade 3, children learn to master the basic concepts, which were initially introduced in the primary grades.  Also, they will learn and develop skills in multiplication and division.  Building onto all of these basic concepts, children in all intermediate grades will discover new ways to apply these acquired understandings as they are challenged with a diverse array of problem solving and extended mathematics applications.  Additionally, recognizing that children do progress at different paces and to different degrees, the mathematics programs in the 4th and 5th grades allow each child to work on concepts and skills that are just right for him/her.  Each child is presented with materials carefully designed to meet individual instructional needs.  Often, individual needs require that a child explore well beyond the standard math curriculum.  This means that children can and do progress in understanding and in the application of higher-level concepts which are well above grade level.  

Language Arts

Language Arts encompasses skills in reading, writing and speaking.  Moreover, every Language Arts activity is established to promote the highest achievement of the standards established by Pennsylvania Department of Education.   Children receive varied instruction, employ skills in a multitude of ways, learn to work independently, develop the skills of interpretation, practice dialog and communication, and extend their understandings through writing.  The Language Arts Program balances the rigor of meeting and going beyond state standards with a keen awareness of different cognitive and developmental needs.  An important part of this comprehensive and extensive language arts curriculum is the independent reading component, Accelerated Reader. This program gives children the much-needed opportunity to practice independently the many skills in reading that they are learning so well.  More importantly, it is tailor-made to meet individual needs and interests.

Science

The Full Option Science System, or FOSS, is a core of the Intermediate Elementary Science Curriculum.  Major units of study are the focus of this program.  In addition, the science teachers have developed interesting and diverse experiments and activities for the students.  The overall purpose of the science curriculum is not so much to learn a particular block of knowledge or set of facts, but instead to give students the enthusiasm and confidence to practice again and again the tools of science.

World Languages

The students receive forty minutes of Spanish instruction once in each five-day cycle.  This program is designed to build onto the introduction of Spanish given in grades one and two.  The focus of the program begins to center on extended dialog and even the writing of Spanish. Also, students begin to study the various Spanish cultures of the world.

Fine Arts

Children are naturally creative and curious.  In the art classes, the teacher strives to promote this spirit allowing the students to pursue their own ideas while being guided and challenged.  New artistic techniques are investigated, then expanded and combined as the children progress throughout the grade levels.  The students are also exposed to artwork of people of other cultures and nations. 

Physical Education

The physical education program for grades 3-5 is a dual program that provides opportunities to develop skills both in and out of the water.  Children learn the fundamentals of the various sports and practice the skills necessary for success in competitive games.  Exercise and good health are also essential elements that are taught in this curriculum.  In the aquatics classes, children learn the necessary skills of swimming, which they apply to more stylized and demanding aquatics activities.  During the school year, children will be scheduled for one semester of physical education and one semester of swimming.