The First Grade classroom provides an environment that generates a desire to learn and motivates students to be productive by providing a wide variety of activities that enhance instruction. Teachers strive to stimulate each child to reach an individual mastery level of first grade skills. The reading curriculum is designed to teach the elemental reading skills of phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency, while also acquainting students with beginning comprehension skills. The Accelerated Reader program promotes individual reading choices and develops a love for reading. In Math students have a basic understanding of the number line, the number grid, computation, math facts, time, and money. Students apply these skills through daily routines and basic problem solving activities. A variety of manipulatives are used to work through and solve problems. Through continued and repeated exposure and application in students’ work and play, these concepts become a part of students’ overall understanding.

Second Grade begins a year of increased independence and responsibility. Confidence in these lifelong skills encourages students to become engaged in a number of learning opportunities. In a classroom environment that is both challenging and nurturing, students are met with a year of growth, change and academic rigor as they prepare for the transition to third grade. Foundations & Frameworks is an instructional reading program that uses a collection of best instructional practices for equipping students to fully understand ideas conveyed in text. Second grade reading curriculum is to further accuracy, fluency, comprehension and independence in reading. Reading and thinking skills are explicitly taught and modeled whole and small group. Second grade students concentrate on several areas of reading comprehension: sequence of events, retelling, character, story structure, summarization, cause & effect, main idea, and plot. Visual tools, specifically designed to correlate with particular comprehension strategies, are used to organize and represent patterns of thinking. The Accelerated Reader program promotes individual reading choices and develops a love for reading. Grammar and writing conventions are taught and modeled, and then integrated across the curriculum. In Math, students will review and extend mathematical concepts that were developed in early grades. Students will explore fact families, and collect, organize and interpret data using tables, charts, and graphs. Students apply these skills through daily routines and problem solving activities.

Fourth grade is a year of responsibility, organization, and preparedness. Fourth graders begin to assume more responsibility for their learning, both at school and at home. Organizational study skills are emphasized through daily work, projects, and long term assignments.  Reading is a large part of the language arts curriculum. Foundations & Frameworks is an instructional reading program that uses a collection of best instructional practices for equipping students to fully understand ideas conveyed in text. Students are encouraged to read for enjoyment as well as for information. The reading program emphasizes teaching necessary reading skills by creating strands of learning through experience, comprehension, application, and intention. The Accelerated Reader program promotes individual reading choices and develops a love for reading. Each unit culminates with cooperative project further ensuring skill retention. Grammar and writing conventions are taught and modeled, and then integrated across the curriculum. Grammar is integrated through editing exercises creating transformative learning. Math curriculum continues in Fourth grade with estimation, consumer math, critical thinking, logic, problem solving and mental math. Students must demonstrate an understanding of place value and a mastery of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division skills. Accurate computation and the ability to solve multi-step story problems are secured. Cooperative group learning allows practical applications of fractions, measurement and graphing.

Science and Social studies are semester core classes in upper elementary. Science is integrated using the Next Generation Science Standards and Social Studies follows the Maryland State Social Studies Standards. The science program features an experimental hands-on approach. Students experience group work and learn to form hypotheses, solve problems, and utilize critical thinking skills using the steps of the scientific method. The focus of Social Studies includes learning the history, geography, and humanities of North America and then specifically Maryland. Financial literacy is included during the social studies semester.

Fifth grade continues to strengthen student’s responsibility and organization. As students move toward assuming increased accountability for their learning, they gain the confidence and preparedness necessary to succeed in middle school. The fifth grade reading program focuses on recreational, functional and textual reading the foundation and frameworks reading program. Literature appreciation and comprehension are taught through the use of anthologies, poems, and books. Self-selected reading, in-depth study of novels, and books read aloud by the teacher form a strong component of the fifth grade reading program. Students are encouraged to interact with the text and respond to it via group discussions, author studies, individual and small group projects, journaling and artistic media. Vocabulary, spelling, word attack methods, reading strategies and comprehension skills are taught within the context of literature. The Accelerated Reader program promotes individual reading choices and develops a love for reading. Evaluation methods include daily work, tests, quizzes, projects and presentations. Foundations & Frameworks addresses the following elements: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and reading comprehension. Grammar and writing conventions are taught and modeled, and then integrated across the curriculum. Grammar is integrated through editing exercises creating transformative learning.  Math 5 focuses on operations with whole numbers, decimals, and fractions, and concepts are learned through real-life examples, manipulative, and visual models. Additional topics include percents, probability, geometry, measurement, introductory pre-algebra concepts, and data collection/graphing. A heavy emphasis is placed on problem solving and estimation strategies throughout each unit. The program provides a hands-on approach where student interaction and discussion is encouraged.

Science and Social studies are semester core classes in upper elementary. Science is integrated using the Next Generation Science Standards and Social Studies follows the Maryland State Social Studies Standards. The science program features an experimental hands-on approach. Students experience group work and learn to form hypotheses, solve problems, and utilize critical thinking skills using the steps of the scientific method. The focus of Social Studies includes learning the history, geography, and humanities of North America and then specifically Maryland. Financial literacy is included during the social studies semester.