The English language arts curriculum focuses on reading, comprehension and writing – essential skills for success in other core classes.

We utilize Task Tracker and Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCEs) to monitor student progress through the Harcourt-Brace, Heath, Holt Rinehart Winston, and McDougal Littell reading series.

Daily lessons cover shared reading, phonics, vocabulary, guided reading, grammar and writing.     Instructors identify GLCEs for each story and monitor how students are progressing through the books.   Students also maintain a writing portfolio consisting of works completed across the various disciplines.

The Michigan Curriculum Framework and GLCEs are the driving force behind our mathematics program.

We design lesson plans to focus on vocabulary development, real-world application, problem-solving skills and writing through constructed responses.

Hands-on learning experiences, incorporation of technology, cross-curricular integration and cooperative grouping guide student achievement.   Mental mathematics games and activities enrich the curriculum.

Our science curriculum focuses on the three branches of science: life, earth and physical.

The program provides students with science concept knowledge, and fosters the ability to think scientifically, to use scientific knowledge to make decisions about real-world problems, and to apply that knowledge in useful, relevant ways.   Our Biology program is an introduction to living organisms and  life processes with a focus on hands-on laboratory activities.

Daily lessons include laboratory investigations, using technology to research information, and incorporating cross-curriculum concepts that support scientific theory.   We identify state standards and benchmarks for each lesson and continuously assess student performance.

Extracts inductive and deductive reasoning through historical perspectives intertwined with geography, government, U.S. History and economic principles.

Teachers help students view major historical events through different cultural vantage points and stress the importance of evaluating these events.

Students learn that historical events are often the result of a series of events that occur locally and globally.

Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCEs) and International Society for Technology in Education standards are used as guidelines for instructional development.

The focus of our technology program is to develop technological awareness and to reinforce learning.   Students explore how people create, use and control technology and apply this knowledge across the academic curricula.

Manipulating a variety of technological tools builds self-confidence and allows students to explore personal interests with technology, preparing them for the global economy.

By studying French and Spanish, participants develop the ability to communicate and gain insight into themselves and others and acquire knowledge through the structure and function of languages and societies.

Our program engenders academic achievement, positive attitudes toward diversity, flexibility in thinking and sensitivity to language.

Students gain first hand knowledge and synthesize learning experiences by traveling locally and abroad.

Each year, students across the state participate in state-mandated Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) testing or the Michigan Merit Exam (MME).

These tests measure English Language Arts (reading and writing), mathematics, science, and social studies – depending on the student’s grade level.   The results provide a snapshot of achievement, allowing educators to identify both strengths and weaknesses and make adjustments to provide future success.

So how does this affect your student?  Find your child’s grade level for quick answers:

1. Third and fourth: MEAP testing in English Language Arts and mathematics.
2. Fifth: MEAP testing in English Language Arts, mathematics, science.
3. Sixth: English Language Arts, mathematics and social studies.
4. Seventh: MEAP testing in English Language Arts and mathematics.

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is a cornerstone of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001.   In Michigan, it measures year-to-year student achievement on the Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) for elementary and middle schools, or the Michigan Merit Examination (MME) for high schools.

Other indicators, such as the number of students who participate in the assessments and graduation rate for high schools, are also considered in the calculation.