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.
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Ms. Clarissa Ramos is our 3K teacher. Ms. Mary Castillion is our 3K Assistant.
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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 learning 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-based environment in the classroom.
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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, number recognition, counting, geometric shapes, rhyming words, weather, seasons, listening and speaking, and learning to get along with others.
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Mrs. Cris Vasquez is our Pre-Kindergarten teacher.
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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 provide 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. Darcy Causey 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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Supplemental Materials – Texas Studies Weekly
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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
First Grade
Our expectations for first grade exceed the minimum requirements of the Texas State Board of Education. A well-balanced curriculum is offered that includes reading, language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, physical education and health, Spanish, music, Christian education, technology, and art.
Mrs. Annabel Ybarra is our first grade teacher.
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First Grade 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
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Phonics: Saxon Phonics – 140 Lessons; Approximately 70 per semester, 20-25 per six weeks. The phonics program is designed to begin the first day of school. It is important not to skip around, but to present the lessons consecutively. The program presents new learning in small increments each day, and there is a continual review for the entire year. The students will develop a solid foundation in phonics to be better readers and spellers. A new spelling list is given each week, which is a combination of words from the phonics lessons and from the Journeys unit. Students will have a weekly phonics assessment as well as a weekly spelling test.
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Handwriting: St. Philip’s teaches regular manuscript printing. The Saxon block-style lettering is shown on the alphabet handwriting strips each child is given. In first grade, instruction is the reinforcement of correct letter instruction which was taught in kindergarten.
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Writing: Write Source – a step-by-step format, which approaches writing as a process that begins with brainstorming and ends with revision, proofreading, and editing. The students learn how to choose a good topic, get started with a rough draft then begin editing. Emphasis is placed on the following types of essays: descriptive, narrative, informative, and how-to. Students also engage in other writing including journals, lists poetry, letters, and summarization.
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Social Studies: My World, Harcourt Brace – Social studies lessons that strengthen skills and understanding in five specific areas: geography, history, civics and government, economics, and culture. Students will practice problem-solving, decision-making, and independent thinking skills throughout the course of the year. Supplemental lessons – Texas Studies Weekly
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Science: Nancy Larson
a. Developmental Biology – Describing the Life Stage of Human Beings
b. Botany – Observing Trees
c. Earth and Space – Exploring Sunlight, Water, and Soil
d. Zoology – Investigating Animals and Their Habitats
e. Anatomy – Discovering What is Inside our Bodies
f. Entomology – Examining the Characteristics and Life Cycles of Insects Supplemental – Science Studies Weekly
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Math: Saxon Math – 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
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Math Supplements: Excel Math, Everyday Math, and Math Studies Weekly
Second Grade
Our expectations for second grade exceed the minimum requirements of the Texas State Board of Education. A well-balanced curriculum is offered that includes reading, language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, physical education and health, Spanish, music, Christian education, technology, and art.
Mrs. Annabel Ybarra is our second grade teacher.
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Second Grade 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
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Phonics: Saxon Phonics – 140 lessons total; Approximately 70 per semester, 20-25 per six weeks The phonics program is designed to begin the first day of school. It is important not to skip around but present the lessons consecutively. A new list of spelling words is given every week and spelling tests are given every Friday. Spelling words come from our Journey curriculum, Saxon rules, and PSIA challenge words. This lends itself well to beginning the spelling unit on Monday and ending it on Friday.
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Daily Oral Language: 180 brief daily oral exercises This series teaches linguistic and grammar skills, prepares students to write and edit their own stories, and familiarizes students with standardized test-taking. In addition, this grammar/language program is taught and reviewed daily to reiterate the proper usage of grammar (parts of speech, noun-verb agreement, sentence construction, capitalization, punctuation, etc.).
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Write Source: Creative writing at St. Philip’s is taught as a process that includes the following steps; prewriting, rough draft, editing, final draft, and publishing. Creative/essay writing should follow with emphasis placed on the following types of essays; decretive, narrative, how-to, and classificatory (compare/contrast or good/bad). Other types of writing that should be included are journaling, lists, poetry, letters, summarization, character sketches, research (content-specific), etc.
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Handwriting: Instruction on cursive writing (Journey and computer lessons) is begun in the second semester of the second grade.​
Science: Nancy Larson
a. Physics – Investigating the Physical Properties of Matter
b. Geology – Observing Rocks and Minerals
c. Physics – Investigating Forces and Work
d. Physics – Exploring Simple Machines
e. Physics – Exploring Sound and Light
f. Ornithology – Investigating Birds Supplemental – Science Studies Weekly
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Math: Saxon Math – 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
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Math Supplements: Excel Math, Everyday Math, and Math Studies
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Social Studies: Harcourt Brace – Meeting Many People Supplemental - Texas Studies Weekly
Third and Fourth Grade
Our expectations for third and fourth grades exceed the minimum requirements of the Texas State Board of Education.
A well-balanced curriculum is offered that includes: Language Arts, Reading, Spelling, Math, Science, Social Studies, Art,
Technology, Health, Physical Education, Spanish, Music, and Christian Education. Both grade levels are aligned with the TEKS.
Mrs. Sharla Nickel is the third and fourth-grade teacher.
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Third and Fourth grade 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
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Phonics: 36 weeks of phonics lessons are taught in conjunction with the Journeys lessons.
Daily Oral Language: 180 brief daily oral exercises This series teaches linguistic and grammar skills, prepares students to write and edit their own stories, and familiarizes students with standardized test-taking. In addition, this grammar/language program
is taught and reviewed daily to reiterate the proper usage of grammar (parts of speech, noun-verb agreement,
sentence construction, capitalization, punctuation, etc.).
Write Source: Creative writing at St. Philip’s is taught as a process that includes the following steps; prewriting, rough draft,
editing, final draft, and publishing. Creative/essay writing should follow with emphasis placed on the following types of
essays, narrative, how-to, and classificatory (compare/contrast or good/bad). Other types of writing that should
be included are journaling, lists, poetry, letters, summarization, character sketches, research (content-specific), etc.
Handwriting: Instruction on cursive writing (Journey and computer lessons) is begun in the second semester of the second grade. We also use “Handwriting without Tears” for Cursive Writing which includes 42 lessons and each letter, large and small.​
This program also includes phonics instruction as part of the cursive writing practice.
Science: Mac Millan McGraw Hill is our text. Lessons include:
a. Cells and Ecosystems
b. Plants
c. Describing animals
d. Life Processes
e. Earth’s History
f. Earth’s Surface and Interior
g. Sun, Moon, and Planets
h. Earth’s Water
i. Earth’s Weather
j. Properties of Matter
k. Changes in Matter
l. Forms of Energy
m. Electricity and Magnetism
Science Manipulatives have been purchased this year to enhance our experiments – a volcano and a microscope
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Math: ESaxon Math – 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​
Math Supplements: Everyday Math, Excel Math
Math manipulatives are used for instruction and include:
1. Place Value
2. Coins and Currency
3. Counting cubes
4. Geo Squares
5. Dominoes and various games such as money and time bingo and measurement tools
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Social Studies: Harcourt Brace – Lessons include:
a. Geography of Texas
b. People of Texas
c. The Earliest Texans
d. Newcomers Arrive
e. Colonies and Independence
f. Settlers in North America and Texas
g. The Texas Revolution
h. Statehood and Separation
i. From Republic to Statehood
j. Texas and the Civil War
k. Twentieth Century
l. The Turn of the Century
m.The Latter Twentieth Century
n. Texas Today and Tomorrow
o. Government in Texas
p. Texas, the United States, and the World