We believe in a well-rounded liberal arts education. At our school, students acquire knowledge, skills, and the ability to reason. In "content" subjects such as history, science, and the humanities, the curriculum is structured around a set of "big ideas" to organize factual knowledge for recall and for conceptual understanding. In "skills" subjects like reading, math, and Spanish, the curriculum reflects the hierarchy of skills in the discipline itself.
Approach to Instructional Design
Our approach starts with the scope of the knowledge and skills to be taught in each subject. These topics are treated as a knowledge system, and are analyzed to determine the big ideas, connections between topics, and logical sequence in which the content will be presented to students. Generally speaking, the information within a body of knowledge takes four forms—verbal associations, concepts, rule relationships, and cognitive strategies. Lessons are developed that use an appropriate instructional strategy for each form of knowledge and strategically integrate students’ prior knowledge.
Subject-Specific Details
Check out the links for each subject on this page to find out more about the books and materials we plan to use, or attend one of our public information nights to learn even more!
Want to learn more? Contact us via email to help us start the school, register your child, or get additional information.