May 23, 2013

Delighting in the Start of a New School Year

Delighting in the Start of a New School Year
Second graders at Cahokia Mounds in Illinois. Photo by Doug Hoff
September 6, 2012

It’s hard to imagine that only 10 days ago the first bell of the new academic year officially heralded the end of summer break. Students, faculty, and staff have moved right into learning mode without skipping a beat (well-fortified with the treats served up at the annual Ice Cream Social, held the Sunday before school started)!

“Delight in the law of God” (Rom. 7:22) is the Principia-wide theme selected to guide thinking and action on both campuses this coming year, and it is already being evidenced. Overall, the School has welcomed 66 new students into its ranks (plus 13 students who returned after taking time off). Those new to the School represent nearly 30 states and more than 10 countries.

Armed with their brand new notebook computers, learners in the Middle and Upper Schools are expertly juggling their new semester schedules, cramming as much as possible into each day. Lower School students were delighted to discover their freshly carpeted hallways and see what teachers had put up on their classroom walls to welcome them to a new grade. And the Early Childhood team has been just as delighted to welcome more than a dozen new children. These younger levels are continuing with largely the same staff as the previous year, while Middle and Upper School have several new additions—primarily in the math, science, and Spanish language faculties.

Curriculum advances and refinements in the School’s character education strategy are taking place at several levels, with these two particularly notable changes:

  • the adoption of the innovative Singapore Math program at both the Lower and Middle School levels
  • the introduction of student advisory groups at the Upper School to promote a sense of community and belonging

Of course, the most visible change this fall is taking place right at the West Gate entrance to campus—on McCandless Field. This well-used sporting venue is being upgraded and transformed from a natural turf football field into an artificial turf, multi-use, three-season athletic venue. Thanks to generous donors, this change brings substantial competitive, scheduling, and training benefits to our Upper and Middle School athletes.

Stay connected to PrincipiaWire to learn more details about these new developments in the coming months!

 

 
  • Mike_Moyle

    This article mentions the new Singapore math program.  The American version of Singapore Math, known as Math in Focus, is being used at grade levels kindergarten through eight.  (It’s published by the same publisher that produces the traditional Singapore Math program, but the names and units of measurement have been changed for American students.)  We’re very excited about this approach.  First, problem solving is at the core of the program, with the other aspects being skills, concepts, processes, metacognition, and attitudes.  The approach emphasizes the importance of starting with concrete experience, then moving to pictorial, and finally working with the abstract.  It emphasizes teaching less concepts at each grade level but really making sure students master those concepts. 

    In the 1980′s, Singapore students didn’t perform very well on the TIMSS assessment, that is given world-wide.  Their Ministry of Education researched best practices around the world in the field of math and created their curriculum around those practices.  They have been top performers on the TIMSS assessment since 1995.

    Several other independent and public schools in the St. Louis area are using this approach.