Elementary School
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Limited openings are available for the 2010-2011 school year. Please contact the Admissions Office at (678) 387-9385 for specific information.

Elementary School

Instructional Vision

The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP) is an inquiry based curriculum which focuses on student learning. This is accomplished by addressing the social, physical, emotional and cultural needs of the child, as well as academic ones and exploring concepts through all key learning areas, enabling meaningful connections to be made between subjects.  The PYP enriches and enhances Notre Dame Academy's rigorous instructional programs. Notre Dame Academy will follow the standards as set forth by the State of Georgia at each grade level. 

Highlights of our instructional programs are:

Literacy Block                                                                                                               Teachers plan for a daily literacy block which includes reading, writing, speaking, and listening to children, by children, and with children.  The literacy block includes the following:

  • Shared Reading
  • Guided Reading/Reader's Circle/Literature study with reading related activities
  • Independent reading with reading related activities
  • Oral language activities - talking and listening
  • Modeled Writing
  • Joint Construction
  • Independent Writing
  • Literature Enrichment - serial reading, poetry, picture books 

Regular Assessment procedures will be consistent across the grades.

Language Arts
Language is fundamental to learning and permeates the entire curriculum. By learning language as well as learning about and through language, we nurture an appreciation of the richness of language and a love of literature.

Students will understand:
• the reading process
• the writing process
• the effective use of language as a valuable life skill
• the internal structures of languages
• the complexity of languages
• that communicative competence comes before emphasis on accuracy.

Students will learn to be aware of:
• language as our major means of reflection
• circumstantial effects/changes (style, audience, purpose)
• the various influences on language (historical, societal, geographical)
• the importance of literature as a way of understanding one’s self and others
• differences and similarities in literature (structure, purpose, cultural influence)
• differences and similarities between language dialects.

Mathematics
Mathematics provides the models, systems, and processes for handling data, making and comparing measurements, and solving spatial problems. Children move through three stages when learing mathematics:

  • Constructing meaning - by using manipulatives and conversation
  • Transferring meaning into signs and symbols - connecting the notation system with the concrete objects and the associated mathematical concepts
  • Understanding and applying - students independently select and use appropriate symbolic notation to process and record their thinking

As they work through these stages, students use certain processes of mathematical reasoning:

  • They use patterns and relationships to analyze the problem situations upon which they are working;
  • They make and evaluate their own and each other's ideas;
  • They use models, facts, properties and relationships to explain their thinking;
  • They justify their answers and the processes by which they arrive at solutions.

Students study the following mathematical content areas:

  • number sense
  • number concepts
  • number operations
  • fractions and decimals
  • data analysis
  • measurement
  • space and geometry
  • algebra

Science
Science and technology as integrated into the International Baccalaureate PYP program of inquiry. provide opportunities for students to engage in hands-on scientific investigations and experiments through weekly science labs and classroom collaboration by:

  • making accurate observations, handling tools, recording and comparing data, and formulating explanations using their own scientific experiences and those of others
  • testing their own assumptions and thinking critically about the perspectives of others in order to further develop their own ideas

The content is arranged into three main strands:

  • Life Science
  • Earth Science
  • Physical Science 

Social Studies
Social studies provides opportunities for students to look at and think about human behavior realistically, objectively, and with sensitivity. It aims to guide students to:

  • gain a deeper understanding of themselves and others, and of their place in an increasingly global society
  • develop an understanding of other cultural groups and an appreciation of other ideas and beliefs
  • promote an understanding of humankind’s role in and dependence on the natural world, and learn to apply this knowledge in responsible ways
  • 5th Graders demonstrate their knowledge through the required IB Exhibition

The Social Studies curriculum will encompass three major strands:

  • History
    Through the study of the human past students develop an understanding of the past, its influences on the present and its implications for the future.
  • Geography
    As students study of the relationship between people and their environment they develop a sense of place and an understanding of human interaction with the Earth’s surface and resources.
  • Society
    Students develop an understanding of the ways in which individuals, groups and society interact with each other and how their values shape our social systems through the study of people and their relationships in society.. This incorporates the disciplines of anthropology, economics, ethics, politics, psychology and sociology.

Religious Education

Spanish
Students completing the elementary school spanish program will:

  • develop the basic skills to produce and receive messages in Spanish
  • begin their high school foreign language at an advantage.

Lessons support PYP units of inquiry and promote international-mindedness.

Music
The music program will give the students self-discipline, self-esteem, dignity, respect, goal direction/completion, along with personal satisfaction and gratification. Students will:

  • learn music as an applied curriculum
  • integrate music, art, and academics
  • celebrate and preserve our cultural and religious heritages musically, and to learn about and appreciate other cultures
  • be stimulated intellectually and emotionally
  • let the music experience be individually and collectively therapeutic, evocative, emotive, and communicative.

Physical Education
The goals and objectives of our Fit for Life physical education program are:

  • to provide all 1st-8th grade students with a minimum of 30min daily physical activity
  • to teach and practice a variety of different skills, games, activities and sports
  • to teach core values such as sportsmanship, teamwork, discipline, respect and hard work.
  • to help students enjoy being active
  • to learn the importance of leading a healthy and active lifestyle

Art
The elementary art curriculum, Pre-K through 5th grade, is designed to build students’ core knowledge in the arts. Art techniques, vocabulary, artists, and movements are taught in innovative and interactive ways, correlating with each grade levels’ units of inquiry whenever possible so that students develop connections between their academic instruction and the world of art. The art environment also encourages students to develop an ethic of care, as they learn to care for art supplies, care for their own ideas and ways of expression, and care for others as they learn about diverse communities and cultures through art.

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