Learning Goals

  • We provide a challenging academic program in a supportive social environment. We believe in addressing the needs of the whole child. We also believe in providing interdisciplinary instruction to integrate the basic skill areas and to extend them to new situations. Students are encouraged to achieve their personal best in every area and enthusiastic effort is celebrated. Our faculty is committed to the following five critical elements of learning:

    1) Promoting positive attitudes and perceptions about learning. We want each student to feel comfortable in class and have a positive attitude about classroom tasks. Without these positive attitudes and perceptions, children have little chance of learning proficiently.

    2) Acquiring and integrating knowledge. Helping students acquire new knowledge, integrating it with what they already know, and retaining it is an important aspect of learning.

    3) Extending and refining knowledge. Learners must extend and refine their knowledge, adding new distinctions and making further connections. They analyze what they have learned in more depth and rigor.

    4) Using knowledge meaningfully. The most effective learning occurs when students are able to use knowledge to perform meaningful tasks. Planning curriculum and instruction so students have the opportunity to use knowledge meaningfully is one of the most important decisions our teachers make.

    5) Reinforcing productive habits of mind. The most important aspect of learning is the use of productive habits, habits such as critical thinking, creative thinking, and self-regulated thinking. As students are acquiring new knowledge, extending and refining it, and using it meaningfully, we want them to be able to seek clarity, be open-minded, restrain impassivity, be aware of their own thinking, evaluate the effectiveness of their actions, and push the limits of their knowledge and abilities.

    In order that we reach our learning goals we strive for the following:

    -To offer a rich, stimulating curriculum, that is developmentally appropriate, challenging and rigorous, and includes the most recent research and innovations, so that students can find out how good they can be.

    -To provide effective instructional strategies that weave higher level thinking skills
    throughout the teaching of basic skills, extending and refining knowledge, and using
    knowledge in meaningful applications.

    -To Instill a sense of self-confidence and self-image by valuing the uniqueness of each
    child and expecting that each student can say, "I can do it."