In in ballet studio, students continue to expand and practice their knowledge of classical ballet and technical skills.

Ballet students progress through the curriculum step by step, while also learning about famous dancers and ballets from around the world. 

Our ballet curriculum lends itself to instilling self-discipline as students strengthen both their bodies and minds. Students also learn to work together when rehearsing choreography and moving across the floor as a group during allegro exercises.

In French class, students learn about various cultures, geography and our world around us using the French language.

The French curriculum for grades 2-4 continue the exploration of the four domains of language—Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. 

Students use language to learn about Art, Geography, and History through the curriculum’s emphasis on the “5 Cs”, as outlined by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL): 

• Communication: Communicate effectively in more than one language in order to function in a variety of situations and for multiple purposes.

• Cultures: Interact with cultural competence and understanding.

• Connections: Connect with other disciplines and acquire information and diverse perspectives in order to use the language to function in academic and career- related situations.

• Comparisons: Develop insight into the nature of language and culture in order to interact with cultural competence.

• Communities: Communicate and interact with cultural competence in order to participate in multilingual communities at home and around the world.

Similar to the K-1 approach to learning, our second graders use art, music, and games to develop a foundational understanding of French basics. As students enter third grade, they are introduced to basic language form, culture, and critical thinking via intensive vocabulary building, sentence building, and virtual “field trips” throughout the francophone world. Fourth graders build upon this format with more challenging topics.

In Innovations and Sciences, students partake in inquiry-based learning, complete project-based assignments and use the lab to its fullest to enrich their overall science experience while in school.

Students explore a variety of topics ranging from the scientific process to energy and ecosystems. Proper and safe use of laboratory equipment and is also a key feature of the curriculum for our young scientists!

Topics explored throughout the school year include: 

The Scientific Method 
Lab safety 
Lab equipment
Ecosystems, Plants, Animals and their Niches
Force and Motion
Water and Weather
Earth and its Moon
Natural Disasters
Polymers
Matter
Electricity
Electric Circuits
Plant and Animal cells
Invasive Species

 

In the second through fourth grade Instrumental Music program, students are introduced to reading, dictating, and performing music while learning about the many instruments the world has to offer!

Students learn how to read, write and perform rhythms on various Orff instruments, read notes on a musical staff, watch and follow and conductor, and more. 

This is all further connected to their general education through connections with storytelling, history, and the students’ own life experiences. Students also learn to internalize music through rhythmic and motion activities that go beyond the demands needed to make musical sound. This knowledge is then channeled into learning how to play and care for the violin. With each new grade more challenging repertoire and musical concepts are gradually introduced.

The goal of our Visual Arts program is to motivate students to express themselves visually and creatively through artistic thought and action.

In class, students build a foundation of art knowledge and skills through Studio Habits. This includes: Come up with a Big Idea, Observe and Express, Envision, Stretch and Explore, Develop Skills, Engage and Persist, Reflect and Connect. Students will partake in inquiry based learning, complete project-based assignments and use the art room to its fullest, to enrich their overall art experience while in school.

The elementary art program enriches the entire curriculum in so many ways, and has four components that create a quality program. They are: Aesthetic Perception, Art Criticism, Art History/Culture, and Art Production/Creative Expression. These four components will be a part of art class and will provide a strong connection to curriculum integration.

At each grade level student will:

• Practice problem solving and critical thinking.
• Learn history and culture through art.
• Learn to more effectively use their senses to explore the world. 
• Use both verbal and nonverbal methods to express abstract ideas and emotions.
• Learn to trust their own creative intelligence.
• Learn concepts and techniques that will give them control of the visual images they produce.
• Learn to identify aesthetic qualities in a variety of artwork and in the environment.
• Learn the language of visual art so that they have a precise vocabulary in which to express their ideas. 

There is a Spring Art Show in May every year, where each Visual Art student is represented. It is open to the students' families and friends! Each class donates a piece of art to be raffled off as a fundraiser at the event.

In Vocal Music, students learn the basic skills and techniques necessary for musical expression via the body, imagination, and VOICE.

Although singing is the primary focus of the Vocal Music Program, other musical venues, such as rhythm, movement , folk dance, history, culture, and composition, will also be explored in order to expand student’s musical horizons.

In 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades, Vocal Music students have the opportunity to perform in both the Annual Winter Concert and the Spring Vocal and Instrumental Music Concert. Students also learn songs to be performed at school celebrations, and provide musical contributions to our school-wide events such as the Multicultural Fair.

In the classroom, students have the opportunity and in-class resources to… 

• Respond and Connect to music from multiple cultures and geographic locations 

• Perform the physical production of music using the voice as well as classroom instruments individually, in small groups, and as an ensemble 

• Read and notate musical notation 

• Create: Communicate using music (composing, improvising, utilizing expressive elements of music) 

• Participate in a collaborative team to create vocal music 

Throughout the school year, methods of musical expression students explore include:

• Kodaly Solfege Syllables (Do, Re, Mi...etc.)

• Gordon System of Rhythm (Du, Du-De….etc.)

• Choral Singing in Varying Genres/Styles

• Laban Efforts (Movement-based Analysis) 

• Musical Theatre and Storytelling

• Orff Schulwerk (Creative Play Using Mallet/Percussion Instruments)