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|  | ELEMENTARY PROGRAM
The Riverside School provides a comprehensive elementary program of intellectual activities that meets and extends beyond national standards and prepares young Riversiders for our rigorous middle school program. Elementary students work with one classroom teacher on the core subjects of language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science. We aim to develop students' intellectual capacity across these different disciplines by building upon the preceding year's knowledge base and integrating subjects together whenever possible in order to deepen the connections students can make. Elementary students build language skills (e.g., phonological awareness, phonics, orthographic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, mechanics) through direct instruction and while engaged in the key language arts processes of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Speaking skills include discussion in a group and presenting information as well as listening to hear feedback and learn information. Their study of mathematics is comprised of hands on activities that help to develop conceptual understanding of the skills being taught. The elementary teachers alternate units of study in science and social studies and integrate them well into their language arts curriculum. For example, second and third grade teacher Alice Lee implements a multi-week unit on oceans that includes research, note taking, and writing lessons as well as art and motor skill activities, and culminates with a museum-like scene in her classroom. Additionally, a Spanish teacher visits elementary classrooms twice weekly to provide early learning in a foreign language through a focus on pronunciation and sets of basic vocabulary.
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM
The Riverside School provides a comprehensive middle school program of intellectual activities that address core curricular areas (English Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science) as well as Latin, Spanish, and a variety of electives rooted in our mission statement. We aim to develop students' intellectual capacity across these different disciplines by building upon the preceding year's knowledge base. Students develop grammar skills and read and write about challenging literature in their English course, and work together in writer's workshop to extend their skills in creative ways. The science program offers rewarding and enriching experiments and experiences to the students with a rigorous focus on physics, biology, and earth sciences. The accelerated mathematics program is taught by our head of school who is a nationally recognized mathematics educator. Our social studies and history program presents a strong overview of the histories of many peoples, along with a foundation of scholarly habits, including research skills, note-taking fluency, and map reading. Our Spanish program culminates with an understanding of grammar and culture equivalent with at least a year of high school Spanish. Our Latin program begins in sixth grade and integrates grammatical concepts equivalent to two years of high school Latin with ancient culture and mythology, history, and building blocks of the English language.
INTEGRATED COMMUNITY EVENTS
Our intellectual endeavors across the different disciplines are enhanced by numerous all-school events and traditions. These activities stem from our beliefs about teaching and learning and further support our mission statement by enriching the experience of the students with activities outside the classroom and within the supportive community. For years, students have participated in our annual Social Studies Fair, a tradition that requires students to organize their time and study skills to execute a significant research project and display their learning orally, visually, and in writing. While middle school students show off individually polished work, fourth and fifth graders work as a whole class to demonstrate their learning, and our youngest students visit those displays and look to older students as role models of focused effort and public speaking skills. We place a strong emphasis on the Classics, with every student in the middle school taking Latin and students in the younger grades studying Greek and Roman mythology. We compete against high school students in the University of Vermont's Latin Day every year, and we have won first prize seven times. The spring Poetry Fest celebrates creative writing with multi-age activities that encourage poetic thinking and a "coffee house" event in the barn where students, parents, faculty, and friends share their favorite poems aloud.
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