PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
St. Philip's Episcopal School provides an integrated course schedule of learning through exploration, scrutiny, and self-reflection. In every class, our teachers emphasize the strategies and processes involved in learning and self-growth, creating a unique opportunity to prepare our students to live thoughtful, creative, and fulfilling lives in a rapidly changing society. Please see our current course offerings below.
Learning Through Play
3K
It is the belief at St. Philip’s Episcopal School that for three-year-olds, much learning takes place through play. We emphasize developing concepts such as gross and fine motor skills, visual memory, classification, spatial relations, alphabet recognition, listening and speaking, and learning to get along with others.
Mrs. Jimenez and Mrs. Grigg are our 3K teachers.
3K Curriculum Overview
Evan Moore – Everyday Literacy, Listening/Speaking, Reading/Writing, Math, Science, Language, Alphabet Jumbo Fun with the Alphabet skills and standards: focuses on the four basic readiness skills that all students need to master before moving on to a formal reading program:
a. Alphabetic Awareness
b. Phonemic Awareness
c. Print Awareness
d. Visual Discrimination
Our goal in the 3K program is to build an early learning foundation for children in a positive Christian environment. We encourage and nurture children with daily classroom routines. Challenging young minds to the fullest potential of their leaning ability is an important part of the early learning years. We are truly blessed to be in an academic structured atmosphere that offers a Christian base environment in the classroom.
a. Circle Time: Letter Wall with words and sounds for the letter of the week, bible verse, calendar, daily weather, and storytime based on the learning material for the theme of the week.
b. Classroom Centers: Diverse activities for learning and interacting for cognitive, fine and large motor skills, social and emotional interactions, and physical skills.
c. Moral values: Positive behavior management and redirection, appropriate manners in the classroom and outside on the playground, independence, positive self-control, respect, kindness, and consideration of others.
An Exceptional Learning Experience
Pre-Kindergarten
It is the belief at St. Philip’s Episcopal School that for four-year-olds, much learning takes place through play. We emphasize developing concepts such as gross and fine motor skills, visual memory, classification, spatial relations, alphabet recognition, numeral recognition, counting, geometric shapes, rhyming words, weathers, seasons, listening and speaking, and learning to get along with others.
Mrs. Vasquez is the Pre-Kindergarten teacher.
Pre - Kindergarten Curriculum Overview
Scholastic's Big Day for Pre-K – each day is organized around three Big Experiences – Whole Group, Circle Time, and Story Time lessons – that provides an anchor for conversation, play, and learning. Carefully selected activities ground the entire class in a common Big Experience. Big Experiences provide integrated learning opportunities and introduce children to new vocabulary, concepts, and skills. Big Day for Pre-K provides intentional instruction in all learning domains:
a. Social-emotional development
b. Oral language and vocabulary
c. Emergent writing
d. Mathematics
e. Science
f. Social studies
g. Fine arts
h. Physical development
i. Technology
Building Strong Foundations
Kindergarten
Mrs. Ortiz is our Kindergarten Teacher.
Kindergarten emphasizes reading readiness, beginning phonics, simple science, music, art, writing, and number concepts. Activities in which eye and hand coordination is developed are taught, as well as body awareness and the continuing development of gross and fine motor skills.
Kindergarten Curriculum Overview
Reading: Journeys Houghton Mifflin – the program is designed to be used as a full-year curriculum program with instruction on developing:
a. Oral language
b. Comprehension
c. Phonemic awareness
d. Decoding skills (phonics, analogy, context, and word recognition)
e. Fluency
f. Reading comprehension
g. Writing
h. Spelling
i. Grammar
Phonics: Saxon Phonics and Spelling – Deepens students’ understanding and strengthens their ability to apply concepts consistently. Explicit instruction in critical foundational skills:
a. High-frequency words
b. Phonics and phonemic awareness
c. Spelling, alphabetizing, and handwriting
d. Fluency instruction and fluency readers
Handwriting:
a. Teaches regular manuscript printing on handwriting paper with top, middle, and baselines.
b. Teaches upper case letters before lower case letters.
c. Teaches groups of letters together that have similar strokes for their formation or the same starting points for their formation
d. Multi-sensory learning methods are used for instruction
Science: Nancy Larson
a. Exploring the Human Body and Five Senses
b. Investigating Healthy Habit
c. Identifying Characteristics of Pets
d. Examining Characteristics of Objects
e. Exploring Forces That Move Objects
f. Observing the Growth of Plants
g. Identifying Living and Non-living Things
h. Identifying Seasons and Weather Conditions
Supplemental Materials – Texas Studies Weekly
Math: Saxon – Hands-on activities and rich mathematical conversations actively engage students in the learning process. Concepts are developed, reviewed, and practiced over time. Students move from the concrete to the pictorial to the abstract. There are daily mixed practices, frequent, cumulative assessments, and opportunities for connections, communication, and justification. Topics are grouped into nine strands. They are:
1. Numbers and Operations
2. Measurement
3. Geometry
4. Patterns, Algebra, and Functions
5. Statistics, Data Analysis, and Probability
6. Problem Solving
7. Communication
8. Mathematical Reasoning
9. Connections
Social Studies: Monthly Activity Books
