How we measure, and how we tell you
Assessment that inspires curiosity and improvement, and always offers a path for revision.
Our purpose is to help students develop intrinsic motivation, so they know they are doing their best work because they are interested in learning.
At every level, teachers craft lessons to fulfill widely adopted standards, including the California Common Core Mathematics Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. We want students not only to meet these standards but to exceed them, and the way to do that is with assessment that inspires curiosity, optimism, and ongoing improvement.
Starting in third grade we provide numeric rubrics and share them with students at the outset of each lesson. As they work, students and teachers check the rubrics together, so children know where they are succeeding and where they need to push. Even students receiving top marks look for ways to stretch further.
The reporting rhythm
Rubric and narrative reports, twice a year.
Two family-teacher conferences a year. Students join their parents and teachers for the second one to share their own progress and goals.
Faculty maintain a year-long conversation with parents rather than saving everything for the formal moments.
Literacy and math at all grade levels, meaningful and developmentally appropriate.
Subject-specific work through the week across literacy, math, social studies, science, and spelling.
About an hour a night, including ongoing projects that build time-management ahead of middle school. Assignments are organized in Google Classroom.
Class placement
In our multi-age classrooms, every child gets to be a younger student one year and an older student the next. That natural progression supports healthy self-esteem and gives each child both years of the experience.
What it produces
Growing up with rigorous, comprehensive, reflective assessment, PS1 students enter seventh grade holding unusually high expectations for themselves, and confident that they can tackle any challenge.