Elementary School
Resource
Here at our AIS West Elementary School, we believe academics, social, and emotional development go hand in hand. Using the workshop approach as we learn and teach reading, writing, and mathematics, teachers get to know students more deeply while conferring with them one-on-one or in small groups about their understanding of literacy and mathematics. Our readers and writers workshop model allows us to integrate social studies and sciences into our literacy, and students are given choice and voice throughout their time in the elementary school.
Not only are our academics important to our students’ progress, but their social and emotional well-being is even more so. This is why we have adopted Positive Discipline as our program that teaches important life skills to all our students through respectful, thoughtful, and reflective discussions and solutions. Our Portrait of a Graduate does the same as we talk, model, and act in accordance with those all important attributes we want our learners to embrace: Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-Minded, Caring, Risk-Takers, Balanced, Reflective , Citizenship, Collaboration.
Learning and Teaching in AIS - West elementary school is a well-executed balance between rigorous curriculums, proven instructional strategies and relationships with students that communicate high expectations and commitment to student success.
Balanced Assessment
Student data provides feedback about what students are learning and what they still need to learn. To guide learning and teaching, this data includes:
- Daily teacher observations
- Daily student work products
- End-of-unit assessments
- Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test – a nationally normed standardized test in Reading, Language Arts and Math
- Skills and benchmark assessments such as running records, Reading A-Z and IXL.