Curriculum, Programs, and Services

Piedmont elementary schools’ visual arts program is designed and taught by certificated Visual Arts teachers. The curriculum builds a strong foundation by developing skills and processes outlined in the National Visual Arts Standards: Creating, Responding, Presenting, and Connecting. Each project or lesson joyfully nurtures students’ engagement in all four standards via Project Zero’s Studio Habits of Mind: Develop Craft; Envision, Express, Stretch and Explore, Engage and Persist, Observe, Reflect, Understand Arts Community.

Students Develop Craft by learning and practicing new art mediums, including painting, drawing, collage, printmaking, sculpture and ceramics. Students Engage and Persist through problem solving, Envisioning their ideas and considering next steps. Students Observe artwork, Reflect, and make connections to their own experiences, the world around them, and art history. Students are encouraged to Stretch and Explore, learning that mistakes are opportunities for growth and that curiosity is key to making art. Students gain visual literacy skills, learning to Express their ideas through their artwork. Our art teachers thrive on creating inviting spaces and fun and engaging opportunities to build art skills in the studio and beyond.

The counseling program at Beach is a general education service that is available to all students. Students participate in the program for basic skill building, such as improvement in communication, leadership, or self-regulation skills, as well as for help with recent life changes and transitions that are interfering in the student’s ability to access their school day. Both individual and group counseling are offered. The goal of the program is to help students enjoy a positive social-emotional experience at school.

One of our primary goals at Beach Elementary is to create a safe, inclusive, kind and respectful environment. Children at every grade level are given guidance on how to be a good friend, school citizen and student.

Piedmont Unified School District’s TriSchool Elementary libraries 

• promote reading through storytelling, exposure to different genres, guest authors and illustrators, and individual reader advisory. 

• use technology to enhance learning and research. 

• support classroom curriculum with resources for students and teachers. 

• help students develop information literacy skills by teaching them how to find, analyze, and use information in meaningful ways. 

 

The McHugh Library at Beach Elementary School is a safe and welcoming space for all students to explore their understanding of the world and their understanding of self through stories, informational texts, and additional materials. 

 

At the McHugh Library, students:

• ask questions;

• seek and find answers;

• imagine possibilities;

• make connections; and

• entertain curiosities.

 

Each library site maintains a wide variety of print and media to meet the reading and information needs of students, teachers and families. Our collection, curated by the teacher librarian, includes over 14,000 titles, which include print and digital materials. You can access digital resources as well as each elementary school’s online library catalog through our TriSchool Library Website. 

 

STAFF & SCHEDULE
Elementary libraries are staffed part time throughout the week. Kindergarten and first grade students have library lessons once a week. Second through fifth grade students have lessons every other week. A credentialed teacher librarian teaches the library curriculum designed to support students on their journey as voracious readers, inquisitive learners, critical thinkers, and responsible digital citizens.

The library is also open to students during morning and lunch recesses under the library assistant’s supervision. The library serves as a quieter and calmer alternative to outdoor recess where students come to read, craft, puzzle, play board games, or engage with building materials available through our mini makers-centers.

Tiffany Cothran, teacher librarian (Tuesday afternoons, Wednesday, Friday)

tcothran@piedmont.k12.ca.us

Sarah Keith, library assistant (Monday-Friday, part-time)

skeith@piedmont.k12.ca.us

FAMILY ACCOUNTS & CHECKOUT

Family members are welcome to create an adult account in order to check out additional books for their students. The library is open from 3:00-3:15 on Tuesdays and Fridays, and 1:45-2:00 on Wednesdays for family checkout. Students must have an adult present to check out books on a family account.

 

PARENT VOLUNTEERS

Parent volunteers are an important element of our school library program. They help to staff the library during library lessons, class research projects, and recesses. To learn more, contact the current parent library liaison on the BPO website.

Helping each child develop a love for reading and writing is one of the primary goals at Beach Elementary. Whether your child is already an avid reader or reluctant to pick up a book, we have wonderful resources to enhance his or her grasp of the language arts.

Our curriculum is derived from The Columbia University Teacher’s College Reading & Writing Project. The Reading & Writing Project allows us to tailor our work to meet each student’s particular needs.

From the Teacher’s College website:

“The mission of the Reading and Writing Project is to help young people become avid and skilled readers, writers, and inquirers. We accomplish this goal through research, curriculum development, and through working shoulder-to-shoulder with students, teachers, principals and superintendents. The organization has developed state-of-the-art tools and methods for teaching of reading and writing, for using performance assessments and learning progressions to accelerate progress, and for literacy-rich content-area instruction.”

Writing Workshop

Beach Elementary has been using the writing workshop model for more than a decade. Each workshop is designed to provide personalized instruction, including mini-lessons on one aspect of the writing craft as well as guided exercises.

From kindergarten onward, children are encouraged to express themselves with paper and pencil. Each day, we’re amazed by the complexity, beauty and progress we see in our students.

Reading Workshop

In the 2012-13 school year, we began implementing the reading workshop model based on The Reading & Writing Project. Toward that end, we believe that guided reading is essential. We guide students in their reading with a re-engineered lesson focusing on the writing mini-lesson. Integrating the reading and writing curriculum in this way helps to reinforce what they’ve learned in both disciplines.

In the first grade and the fall semester of second grade, we adopt the early reader/late reader schedule, which enables our teachers, aides and volunteers to provide each student with more one-on-one reading time.

Students are trained to select their own books at the appropriate level. Some kids call them “just right for me” books. Grades 1 and 2 are given a bit more guidance on what kinds of books to choose. Parents are encouraged to speak with teachers about their child’s reading levels.

Assessments

Students’ capabilities in reading and writing are assessed three times a year. Additionally, in grades k-5, they are given an annual developmental spelling inventory to track their progress.

Learning practices that foster a growth mindset and curiosity are integral to the classroom mathematics community.  Students are encouraged to take risks, make mistakes, explore, communicate, problem solve, reason and justify their thinking so that they are able to make sense of mathematics at the deepest levels.  Through these experiences, students develop an appreciation for the beauty and creativity inherent in the field of mathematics. Beach Elementary School uses Bridges in Mathematics, including Number Corner, as its core curriculum.  Bridges is a comprehensive K-5 curriculum that equips the teachers to fully implement the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics in a manner that is rigorous, coherent, engaging, and accessible to all learners. The curriculum focuses on developing students’ deep understandings of mathematical concepts, proficiency with key skills, and the ability to solve complex and novel problems. It taps into the intelligence and strengths of all students by presenting material that is as linguistically, visually, and kinesthetically rich as it is mathematically powerful. Teachers also  enrich their classroom math programs with resources from the Silicon Valley Math Initiative, Jo Boaler’s “youcubed”, Math Forum and Nrichmaths to name a few.  These programs, along with the Bridges curriculum provide many avenues for differentiation to meet student needs. The Math Resource program provides supplemental support for students needing a little extra help, time, and attention, all in a small group or individualized setting. The math resource teacher works collaboratively with classroom teachers to keep in step with the curriculum being taught at any point during the school year.  Through the use of various strategies and the use of manipulatives, students are supported in developing problem-solving skills as well as their confidence in their math concepts!

We are very fortunate to offer music instruction at all grade levels.

Vocal Music

A music specialist provides vocal music instruction once a week for students in grades kindergarten through third. Kodaly and Orff methods of music teaching are practiced in the classroom.  A holiday program in December and a spring concert provide a heartwarming experience where students perform seasonal works.

Instrumental Music

4th Grade:

All fourth grade students participate in 40 minutes of musical instruction each week with Ms. Wilde. At the beginning of the year, students will learn about the brass, woodwind, and string families. In September they will make a selection between the following instruments: clarinet, flute, trombone, trumpet, violin, and viola. Students will be split into two groupings: band (brass/woodwinds) and orchestra (strings). They will learn about tone production on their instrument, how to play as a group, and learn to read rhythms and musical notation/tablature. 

5th Grade: 

In fifth grade students will continue on the instrument they chose in fourth grade. (String students, however, have the opportunity to switch to cello based on availability of instruments.) All fifth grade students will participate in 40 minutes of musical instruction each week with Ms. Wilde. They will continue to refine their instrumental technique in either a band or orchestra grouping.

The tri-school physical education program is off to a dynamic start. We’ve kicked off the year with individual ball skills, cooperative and competitive team sports, muscle building fitness circuits and heart pumping Fun Runs. Students have been putting their best foot forward, whether it is a run, skip, hop or jump!

The Piedmont Elementary physical education curriculum is based on the California State Standards. Not only does this guide our teaching but it also directs the grading of students. Following is the grading supplement that explains what students learn at each grade level as well as the areas we evaluate for report cards. Please let us know if you have any questions about the grade reporting or your child’s physical education.

Heidi Sawicki (hsawicki@piedmont.k12.ca.us)

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PHILOSOPHY OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION

“The purpose of physical education is to teach the whole student, not just their body and movement. Physical education provides the opportunity to teach students about movement, strategies, teamwork, problem solving and health related fitness.”

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GOALS

“The goal of physical education is to develop physically literate individuals who have the knowledge, skills and confidence to enjoy a lifetime of healthful physical activity.”

To pursue a lifetime of healthful physical activity, a physically literate individual:

• Has learned the skills necessary to participate in a variety of physical activities.

• Knows the implications and the benefits of involvement in various types of physical activities.

• Participates regularly in physical activity.

• Is physically fit.

• Values physical activity and its contributions to a healthful lifestyle.

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STATE REQUIREMENTS

Students in grades one through six must be provided with PE instruction with an “emphasis upon the physical activities for the pupils that may be conducive to health and vigor of body and mind, for a total period of time of not less than 200 minutes each 10 schooldays, exclusive of recesses and the lunch period” (EC Section 51210[a][7]).

CDE Physical Education Fact Sheet      http://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ca/pe/physeducfaqs.asp#top

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PHYSICAL FITNESS TESTING

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/pf/

FitnessGram Performance Standards

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/pf/documents/pft15hfzstd.pdf   

 

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

California State Standards for Physical Education

http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/pestandards.pdf

One of the biggest gifts we can give our children is a love of reading. At Beach we make sure that students have lots of opportunities to read throughout the day. From individual classroom libraries, to our main school library, we have many essential resources to enable students to independently read. However, some students need a helping hand to crack the phonetic code in order for reading to progress more easily, and that is why we have a full time reading specialist on staff.

Stephanie Valdez-Kaminsky works one-on-one or with small groups of students needing an extra boost in their reading, spelling and writing skills. She helps children feel confident in their ability to read and spell, which helps encourage and foster a lifelong love of reading and writing. She also teams up with classroom teachers to teach whole-class lessons on important literacy skills, and is a resource for classroom teachers to access alternate curricular resources they can use in their own literacy lessons.

Beach Elementary is part of a rich tri-school elementary science team. Teachers have access to the Lawrence Hall of Science FOSS (Full Option Science System) curriculum as well as many other resources to support science instruction in all curricular areas. FOSS is a research-based science program for grades K-8 developed at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley.

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are coming to Beach classrooms!  NGSS curriculum emphasizes three essential dimensions of science instruction: Science and Engineering Practices (what scientists and engineers do), Crosscutting Concepts (how scientists and engineers think), and Disciplinary Core Ideas (what scientists and engineers know).  Today’s students learn so much more than science content, they learn to be scientists!  Come to our annual tri-school STEAM Expo (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) in the spring to find out more.

One of our primary goals at Beach Elementary is to create a safe, inclusive, kind and respectful environment. Children at every grade level are given guidance on how to be a good friend, school citizen and student.

Inevitably problems will arise; this is part of growing up! When they do, teachers and staff are available to help students navigate through difficult situations. In addition, Beach is fortunate to have a school counselor, Jaimie Lasky, for those who need extra support and guidance.

Children at all grade levels learn age-appropriate examples of appropriate tools to help them understand how to be a good friend and classmate. We utilize the Second Step curriculum and lessons from the Welcoming Schools curriculum at all grades to support this learning.

Over 10 years ago, Piedmont Unified Schools adopted a philosophy of inclusion for all special needs students. It’s our goal to include special needs students in general education as much as possible. While it depends on the individual student, the inclusion program is one of the most powerful ways to support kids who are in special education. None of our students spend their entire day in a special education classroom. If we do have a child who needs constant assistance, we partner with schools in the Berkeley, Emeryville, Alameda and Albany school districts to provide the necessary help.

Fourteen percent of the Piedmont Unified student population benefits from the Special Education program. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 established 14 disability categories. From pre-k to 12th grade, Piedmont schools offer a wide range of help for all 14 categories, from attention deficit disorder to autism, orthopedically handicapped to deaf and visually impaired children.

If a child is not achieving at an appropriate academic level, interventions are mandated by the state of California. Our first approach is to employ strategies in the classroom. If these don’t work, we provide increasing support. Beach Elementary has a wonderful resource specialist that provides those students who are struggling with the support they need. In addition, our district has many specialists at the ready, including speech pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and resource specialists for grades K-12. We also have an adaptive Physical Education program.

We also have an inclusion specialist that ensures children with special needs are reaching their academic goals and making the most of their time in the classroom. This instructor also provides reading and math resources for those who need assistance. Sometimes, kids need a temporary boost in a particular subject. We make sure they’re given extra help so that they can stay on track.

In grades 3-5, our special education center is called “Home Base.” This terminology is used through middle school and high school, to help students feel at home in each new setting.

Beach Elementary’s technology curriculum teaches students to use digital tools to access, manage, evaluate and synthesize information in order to solve problems individually and collaboratively. The technology curriculum is integrated with all curricular areas, and is used as an instructional tool in reading, writing, math and science instruction.

The school’s technology program also emphasizes digital literacy and citizenship, including units developed by commonsensemedia.org to address these topics in an age-appropriate way. Lessons focus on thinking critically, behaving safely and participating responsibly with digital media.

Technology is a critical component to student advancement because it supports inquiry, communication, and analysis. Our implementation of technology resources is grounded in research, tied to curriculum, and focused on positively impacting student learning. Informing our approach are best practices of 21st century skills, ISTE’s NETS skills, and critical thinking derived from work around Bloom’s Taxonomy to create engaged and literate learners. Educational Technology aims to improve student achievement through providing:

1- equitable access to technology, through adequate student/computer ratios, security, maintenance and reliability

2- opportunities for students and staff to acquire 21st Century skills

3- support to state curricular standards by enhancing instruction planning, delivery, practice, assessment, and communication

Computer lab periods are scheduled for all 1st – 5th grades. 3rd, 4th and 5th grades are also outfitted with chromebooks for each student in the classrooms. Library workstations are also available for student use.

 

OUR TECH PROGRAM