Curriculum:
•Reading: ISW uses high-quality children’s literature to teach reading. Typically, our students read 8 to 10 books per year. Past titles have included: See Saw Girl, Frindle, Number the Stars, The Penderwicks, The War That Saved My Life, Island of the Blue Dolphin, and The Secret Garden.
•Language Arts: a writing-intensive approach with an emphasis on grammar, spelling, and composition
•Math: Pearson’s MCP Math
•Science: Science and Technology Concepts, developed by the National Science Resource Center, the National Academies of Science, and the Smithsonian
•Social Studies: United States history, early modern global, and 20th century to present global, taught on alternating years
•Spanish: conversation and culture
•Performing Arts: drama, poetry, dance, choral/instrumental music, and music theory
•Destination Imagination
•Art: studio approach integrated with other studies
•Experiential Ed: weekly field trips and speakers based on classroom studies
Key Elements in ISW’s Upper Elementary program:
•Small class size with hands-on learning
•Multi-age classrooms that allow students to learn to lead and to follow
•Individual attention
•Joyful, loving atmosphere
•Opportunity to work independently and in groups
•Mastery learning rather than traditional grades
•Student-paced work.
•Technology, beginning in 5th grade, including Google Classroom
