Our math curriculum is flexible, accessible, and engaging for all students. The materials we select are designed to build positive mathematical identities, build on prior knowledge, and celebrate that there are often multiple pathways to the same answer. Collaborative learning activities invite students to share their understanding and apply knowledge in real-world contexts.
Inquiry-based learning serves as the guiding principle of mathematical instruction in grades K-8. Lessons begin with an engaging or challenging problem that activates prior knowledge, elicits student questions, and provides a rationale for learning. New concepts are introduced using manipulatives and opportunities for students to investigate and explore, deepening their conceptual understanding of mathematical ideas.
Cross-curricular and community service projects provide opportunities to apply mathematical understanding to students’ real-world goals, such as building a new planter for the school garden or sketching a self-portrait.
Kindergarten
Our kindergarten classroom offers engaging, play-based mathematical experiences for children, with frequent opportunities for self-directed experimentation and enriching games and activities. Children use a variety of manipulatives to uncover concepts of shape, size, measurement, and geometry.
They build spatial awareness while playing with pattern blocks and puzzles, discover algebraic thinking through patterns in visual art, and learn to categorize and sort using acorns and rocks. Children play interactive and cooperative games that facilitate social-emotional development as well as foundational math skills.
Grades 1–5
Developing fluency in math mirrors the process of developing fluency in any language. In the primary grades, we provide a strong scaffold for students to develop a deep understanding of mathematical procedures and concepts. Teachers use manipulatives to provide a foundation for concrete understanding.
Lessons then shift into picture representations, providing a bridge that helps students work toward fluently using abstract written numbers and symbols. By the end of grade 5, students have not only mastered basic skills in arithmetic, fractions, and geometry, but they have also developed the academic language and conceptual understanding necessary to begin exploring algebraic concepts and applied mathematics in the middle grades.
Grades 6–8
Through grade 6, our math program provides differentiated instruction that meets the needs of a variety of developmental levels within the same classroom. Small group instruction and curriculum flexibility provide the space and time needed to experiment with different learning strategies and discover individual pathways to learning. At the same time, developmentally appropriate learning extensions and applications increase engagement for students ready to pursue greater challenges.
In grade 7, students have the option to take an accelerated course that combines seventh and eighth-grade standards, providing a supportive pathway to algebra I in grade 8. Our program is designed to ensure that all students graduate with a deep understanding and appreciation for mathematics that supports success in high school and beyond.
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