Early Elementary

List of 7 items.

• Mathematics

  Following Archdiocesan standards, students build fluency in operations, measurement, geometry, and data using the enVision Math series, supplemented by Freckle Math and targeted iReady instruction throughout.
  
  Progression:
  

  • 1st Grade: Masters addition and subtraction fluently within 20, extends counting and place value to 120, and begins telling time to the hour and half-hour.
  • 2nd Grade: Builds addition and subtraction fluency within 100 (and within 1,000 using place-value strategies), works with equal groups and arrays, and tells time to the nearest five minutes.
  • 3rd Grade: Achieves multiplication and division fluency within 100, solves two-step word problems using all four operations, and is introduced to fractions, area, and perimeter.

• Religion

  Students continue formal religious instruction with Sadlier's We Believe curriculum, following the liturgical year through prayer, Bible stories, and feast-day celebrations, with weekly Mass throughout all three grades.
  
  Progression:
  

  • 1st Grade: Learns Bible stories and Gospel parables, professes belief in the Trinity and Christ's Resurrection, and begins memorizing core prayers: the Hail Mary, Our Father, and Glory Be.
  • 2nd Grade: Prepares for and receives the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Communion, studies the Nicene Creed, and learns to recognize God’s grace and forgiveness. 
  • 3rd Grade: Explores the Church's origins at Pentecost and its leadership structure, participates in the Rosary and Stations of the Cross, and reflects on the Beatitudes as a guide for Catholic living.

• Reading & Language Arts

  Instruction blends whole-group exploration of the Wonders reading series with small, leveled guided-reading groups and individualized support, tracked throughout with Accelerated Reader and iReady.
  
  Progression:
  

  • 1st Grade: Builds foundational phonics and decoding skills, blending sounds, digraphs, and vowel teams, while learning to retell stories and identify key details in what they read and hear.
  • 2nd Grade: Reads longer, multi-syllable words with growing fluency and expression, identifies a story's central message, and begins comparing information across two texts on the same topic.
  • 3rd Grade: Reads for meaning with increasing independence, analyzing character motivation and how a text's structure builds an idea.
    
    

• Science

  The Amplify curriculum blends hands-on investigation with literacy-rich activities, encouraging students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers.
  
  Progression:
  

  • 1st Grade: Explores life, physical, and earth science through hands-on investigation. Observes structures in living things, tests pushes, pulls, and other forces, and tracks daily and seasonal weather patterns.
  • 2nd Grade: Investigates how living things depend on their environment through food chains and habitats. Experiments with light, heat, sound, and magnetism, and studies Earth's materials and natural hazards.
  • 3rd Grade: Designs and tests their own investigations and prototypes, classifies plants and animals by their characteristics, and explores properties of matter, electricity, and Earth's rock and fossil record.

• Social Studies

  Students build their understanding of community, history, geography, and civics through thematic units throughout Grades 1 through 3, including Social Studies Alive in Second Grade.
  
  Progression:
  

  • 1st Grade: Learns classroom and community rules, civic symbols, and the difference between goods and services, while building an early sense of history through family traditions and community change.
  • 2nd Grade: Studies local and national government and leadership, learns foundational economic concepts like scarcity and trade, and explores world cultures and historical figures who shaped their communities.
  • 3rd Grade: Examines the structure and purpose of government at the local, state, and national levels, explores supply, demand, and resources in a market economy, and studies U.S. history from early civilizations through westward expansion, culminating in an independent research project and presentation on a historical figure.

• Technology

  Teachers use technology to reinforce concepts when it enriches learning. iPads and laptops are available during school hours.

• Writing & Handwriting

  Formal handwriting and written-expression instruction begins in kindergarten and continues through workbooks, journals, book reports, and class presentations using the Wonders Reading/Writing Workshop and McGraw-Hill Language Arts.
  
  Progression:
  

  • 1st Grade: Writes opinion pieces, informative texts, and simple narratives using guided structure, while continuing manuscript handwriting with the Sunform Motor Planning System.
  • 2nd Grade: Expands opinion, informative, and narrative writing with more developed reasons and details, and introduces cursive handwriting basics, still within Sunform.
  • 3rd Grade: Writes structured opinion and informative essays supported by facts and short research, and reviews and applies cursive using Zaner-Bloser Handwriting.