ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

CURRICULUM

Alconbury Elementary School adheres to the principle that children should be encouraged to develop to the maximum their intellectual, aesthetic, vocational, physical, social, and moral capabilities.  Language arts, mathematics, reading, science, social studies, fine arts, health and physical education are the basic components of the elementary school curriculum.  The following are brief descriptions of each discipline. More information on DoDDS standards can be found at www.dodea.edu

Art:  Art education provides experiences to give each student a personal feeling of experimentation, a perception of growth through projects, as well as a depth of understanding of basic art principles.  Art is a practical means of encouraging and developing the creative imagination, which is instinctive in every child and is the foundation of success.  Students receive art instruction on a regularly scheduled basis in the Art Room.  In addition, classroom teachers provide additional art experiences for correlation, growth and leisure time activities.  All students are provided opportunities for creative, critical, independent thinking and self-awareness with emphasis on building a positive self-image.  The art lessons provided are planned with growth and skill development in mind to meet the needs of each age level.

FLES: Alconbury Elementary School began a Foreign Language Elementary School (FLES) program in the 2007-2008 school year for Kindergarten and 1^st grade. Students in those grades received language instruction in Spanish for 90 minutes per week. The program has been expanded to 2^nd and 3^rd grades for the 2008-2009 school year and will include all grades for the 2009-2010 school year.  

Health:  The health education program provides instruction and health appraisal for children in kindergarten through grade 5.  The highly successful DARE drug education program is provided for all 4^th and 5^th grade students.  The health education program for grades K - 2 averages about 75 minutes weekly.  Grades 3 and 4 receive about 90 minutes of instruction weekly and 5^th grade students receive approximately 100 minutes.

The school nurse reviews the health records of all students, conducts vision and hearing screening for each child and coordinates scoliosis screening for 4^th and 5^th grades.  The nurse also coordinates with the base clinic for dental screening and provides supplementary instruction for the classroom teacher in a variety of areas including smoking, alcohol abuse, self-concepts, sexual assault prevention, stress and human growth and development.  She also coordinates with Social Actions for additional instruction on drug/alcohol/substance abuse.  The health education program overlaps the science studies program in several areas.

Host Nation/Intercultural Program: A unique feature of the DoDDS curriculum is the host nation/intercultural program.  The program, taught by teachers who are native to the country in which the school is located, acquaints the students with the language, people and culture of the country.  At Alconbury this is done through study trips, both day and overnight, exchanges with British schools, visiting speakers and performers, and other special activities.  The proximity of Alconbury to Cambridge and London means the students have a unique opportunity to benefit from the great cultural and educational opportunities these cities offer.

Language Arts: The Scholastic Literacy Place Reading/Language Arts Program includes spelling, handwriting, and oral and written language skills development programs (usage, capitalization and punctuation, dictionary and library skills, etc.).  These skills are integrated into all content areas that provide practical use of our language.

Reading:  Students are provided a complete literature based reading program within their ability range.  The Scholastic Literacy Place series provides for appropriate grouping of students, skill instruction, practice, assessment, re-teaching (as necessary) and enrichment.  In addition, classroom teachers provide instruction, encouragement, and motivating techniques to promote reading for enjoyment and as a leisure time activity.  Children with special needs are provided for by the classroom teacher and other specialists.

Mathematics:  A comprehensive mathematics program is offered to all students enrolled in grades K-5.  The Math Curriculum includes the use of manipulatives, games and individual problem solving techniques. DoDDS has developed specific instructional objectives for each grade that are implemented by the educators.  Classroom instruction time allocation varies from 110-240 minutes per week in grades K-5, as appropriate.  Special educators provide for the child whose needs are best served in a small group instructional setting or with others with similar learning needs.

Music:  All children are provided a music program based on choral, rhythmic and movement experiences.  The primary goal of the music program is to foster the student’s enjoyment and appreciation of music.  The classroom teacher and the music specialist determine the amount of time spent in accomplishing this goal.

Physical Education: Physical education is taught at least once a week to all students in grades K-5.  The total program in physical education encompasses each student’s physical, mental and social development.  Students are required to wear tennis shoes.  If a student wears other footwear to school, he/she must change into tennis shoes before participating in PE. Students who have stitches, casts, or any type of splints will not be allowed to participate.   After being excused from PE for physical injury reasons, a student must have clearance from the school nurse or other medical person to resume PE.

Science:  The science program includes appropriate topics and levels of materials and activities in life science, earth science and physical science.  The science program is correlated with DoDDS goals and objectives for science and includes seven topics of study: plants and animals, the environment, the human body, planet earth, space, matter and energy.  All topics are progressively taught in grades K-5.  Time spent on the science program varies from approximately 40 minutes per week in kindergarten to three hours per week in the upper elementary grades.

Social Studies: The Social Studies program includes history, geography, sociology, anthropology, career education, economics, political science and intercultural education experiences appropriate to each grade level. Students at the primary level (K-3) receive instruction in basic concepts that include awareness of self, family, and friends; responsibility to self, school, home, and play, local environment of the school, neighborhood, and community.  Studies for 4th grade students include six regions of the U.S.  The 5th grade studies include U.S. History from the colonial period through the Civil War and sectional areas of the U.S.  The actual social studies instructional time varies from 30-50 minutes per day depending upon the grade level.Career education is emphasized in grades K-5 through the use of resource persons, field trips and classroom activities within the social studies program.

COMPUTER LAB & TECHNOLOGY

In the school’s computer lab we strive to give all students a variety of opportunities to develop their technology skills in keyboarding, creative writing, conducting research, formatting and publishing, communicating, reading, doing computations, listening and creating artwork.  Above all, the goal is to use the computer lab in support of units of study currently being undertaken in the regular classroom.  In this manner technology is integrated in with the regular curriculum and not looked at as something separate from our daily lives.   Along these lines, classes are regularly scheduled into the lab, and the classroom teacher remains with the students in the lab along with the educational technologist.

Technology is fun while at the same time it is a very powerful tool in today's society.  It needs to be used appropriately and with respect.  Internet safety is one of our primary concerns at Alconbury Elementary School, and we provide instruction in this regard to students in second through fifth grades.  Students are taught not to answer email messages from strangers regardless whether they are at home or in school.  The students are shown research sites that screen all links, thus preventing any inappropriate material from reaching our students.  Above all, we stress to the students the need to contact an adult whenever something unusual or questionable appears on their computers. 

In April 2006, our school received four SMART interactive white boards that enable teachers and students to work “mouse-free” directly on the boards themselves.  These interactive surfaces lend themselves to the use of manipulatives, software usage demonstrations and presentations.  We now have multiple SMART boards and projectors to share between the classrooms in every building.  We have received four COW’s in addition to the SMART boards, COW being the acronym for Computers on Wheels.  They include rolling carts in which we store the laptop computers with Windows XP.  In order to maximize the use of the COW’s, they are housed in the Media Center  and the labs where teachers and students can make use of their many resources in addition to the computers. 

In May 2005 we instituted student email accounts located at www.doddse.net.  Each summer, DoDDS-Europe headquarters deletes all accounts as part of the maintenance procedures for the student email system.  Each fall, this program is made available to students.  “Doddse.net” is a wonderful program that enables students to email deployed parents as well as their friends. Moreover, they can attach assignments begun in school, send them home, edit them, and then send them back to school, thereby taking advantage of virus protection software both at home and at school.  All student e-mail is filtered using software that scans all documents for inappropriate language and content. This system is monitored by teachers and the school's system administrator.

Parents and students are asked at the time of registration to sign an Internet and Computer Usage Agreement giving permission for the students to use the Internet while at the same time acknowledging their obligation to follow appropriate Internet and safe computing procedures.  Students are not to use school computers or internet without this signed permission form being on file.  Students violating any part of this agreement may lose access to e-mail, internet and the school local-area network, or other computer privileges, as determined by the principal.

GIFTED EDUCATION

The Gifted Resource Teacher provides services to groups of students eligible for the gifted program. This group is composed of approximately 15% of the student population. Students are identified for possible inclusion into the gifted program by several means. The basic criteria used are demonstrated student achievement through group ability and achievement testing; teacher, parent or student nomination; transfer records indicating eligibility; and/or tests of special aptitude or creativity measures.

The gifted program services is for these students who perform or show potential for performing at remarkably high levels when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment and have learning needs which require differentiated learning experiences.  An Enrichment Team composed of designated school personnel oversees the final selection of students who qualify for enrichment services.

SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Alconbury Elementary School has developed procedures for meeting these legal mandates.  If your child is identified as possibly being handicapped and in need of a special education program, you will be asked to meet with the involved staff at various times to participate in the activities and decisions affecting your child.

Special Education Programs for Students in Grades K-5:  Students meeting the eligibility requirements for special education programs under DoD Instruction 1342.12 are served by the resource special educators at the school. Areas of instruction and time allocation are determined by the Child Study Committee (CSC), which includes the parents.  Services are based on the needs documented in the child’s Individual Education Program (IEP).  The experiences shared in the special education program are planned to build on the strengths of the student and improve the identified areas needing attention.  The program’s emphasis is on providing a positive learning environment directed at meeting the student’s needs.

Speech/Language Therapy: Speech and language assessment and services are provided to students identified as needing help in those areas.

Pre-School Services for Children with Disabilities:  PSCD is a generic program, which serves preschool students, aged 3 through 6 with varying disabilities or handicapping conditions.  To qualify for the program, a child must exhibit a 6-month delay in two or more developmental areas, or approximately a one-year delay in one developmental area.  The developmental areas are:

·        Physical condition of the child

·        Gross and fine motor skills

·        Cognition (understanding of knowledge)

·        Language

·        Speech

·        Social development

·        Emotional development

The PSCD class is self-contained and structured so that opportunities are provided for individual as well as small and large group instruction.  In addition to structured learning experiences, time is provided for the child to participate in an activity of his/her choice.  Curriculum areas for the program include the following:

·        Social-behavioral skills

·        Expressive/receptive language development

·        Cognitive development

·        Pre-academic skills (mathematics, writing, reading)

·        Sensory-motor skills (fine and gross motor perceptual integration)

·        Self-help skills

SURE START

“Sure Start” is patterned after the” Head Start Program” in the United States.  It is designed to enable children who meet certain criteria to have success in school. This is a DoDDS preschool program for children who are four years old by 31 October of the current school year and who meet the criteria for enrollment. The program is limited to 18 students.  Sure Start is a free, full day program.

CHILD FIND

Child Find is the DoDDS effort to locate and identify all children from birth to age 21 who may need special education and related services.  Children suspected of having special needs may exhibit difficulties in one of the following areas: hearing/vision, speech/language, orthopedic, emotional, developmental, other health impaired, and for school age children, specific learning problems.

CHILD STUDY COMMITTEE (CSC):  DoD Instruction 1342.12, Provision of Early Intervention and Special Education Services to Eligible DoD Dependents, implements PL 94-142 in DoDDS and mandates appropriate educational programs for all eligible handicapped students.  Every school is required to establish a multidisciplinary team, the Child Study Committee (CSC) for the purpose of bringing together involved educators, parents, educational specialists/resource personnel, administrators (and the student, when appropriate) to participate in activities and decisions related to student needs, assessment/evaluations, student placement and Individualized Education Program (IEP) development and review.

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