Academic Life

Core Curriculum

THE CORE CURRICULUM

The Avenues curriculum design process is underway under the leadership of Ty Tingley, co-head of Avenues’ Chelsea campus; Sarah Bayne, Avenues’ director of educational design; Gardner Dunnan, academic dean and head of the Upper School; Nancy Schulman, head of the Early Learning Center; Libby Hixson, head of the Lower School; and Tom Bonnell, head of the Middle School. This exciting design work, to establish a curriculum of the highest standards and rigor, was begun in fall 2010 and will be finalized in summer 2012, but many of the core elements are clear.

Early Learning Center(Nursery and Pre-Kindergarten—3- and 4-year olds)

A major focus of the Early Learning Center is on the development of social skills. Hands-on and experiential skill development is individualized, as well as in small groups. Children develop independence and work on problem solving. Children learn how to interact with others and how to learn in groups. The curriculum will thus include:

1. Development of both fine and gross motor skills
2. Individualized focus on language, literacy and writing skills
3. Estimation and early math readiness and problem solving
4. A scientific view of the world: simple experiments
5. The beginnings of the World Course that will spiral through all years of the Avenues curriculum
6. Introduction of Chinese and Spanish through 50 percent immersion (see Language Choices, as well as OPEN posts on learning a second language and on immersion).

A chart of the Early Learning Center curriculum is available here.

Lower School(Kindergarten through Grade 4)

In the Lower School our teachers implement hands-on, experiential activities to enable students to acquire essential skills, engage in creative thinking, broaden knowledge, and deepen understanding. Language immersion will be considered a critical part of the curriculum. The Lower School curriculum will include:

1. Reading, writing and spelling
2. Mathematics
3. Science, with an emphasis on the natural world
4. Chinese or Spanish (partial immersion)
5. The World Course
6. Keyboarding and technology fundamentals
7. Music
8. Art
9. Physical education at the Avenues gymnasium and at Chelsea Piers
10. Life skills

A core element of the Lower School curriculum for each grade will be thematic studies, culminating in a significant project requiring considerable independent work. These themes could be tied to the World Course that spirals through the Avenues curriculum.

A chart of the Lower School curriculum is available here.

Middle School(Grades 5-8)

In the Middle School, students start to move from studio to studio (classroom to classroom). Students acquire greater depth and proficiency in all their academic and co-curricular subjects, as well as an increasing emphasis on critical thinking. Assignments individualize opportunities for students to pursue their particular interests in depth, but within a common curriculum and skills base. Curricular emphasis is on building on the core skills already mastered in earlier years.

1. Reading: focus on awareness of argument and understanding of the different genres of literature
2. Writing: building a three-paragraph essay
3. Math: including Algebra I
4. Science: earth science and ecology, biology, physics
5. World Course

In Middle School, and especially in Upper School, the World Course is likely to overlap with standard offerings in history and science

1. History: an interdisciplinary approach. Topics could include American history and ancient or medieval civilizations
2. Language: Chinese or Spanish, continuing the language studied in earlier grades, resulting in increasing fluency
3. Music
4. Art
5. Physical education: team sports at the Avenues gymnasium and at Chelsea Piers
6. Life skills
7. The school in the city: understanding Chelsea and New York

Students of this age do well working on projects with other students, so work in small teams on independent projects will be emphasized.

Older Middle School students will begin to have some of their classes, particularly in art and music, integrated with offerings in Chelsea and the city around the school.

A chart of the Middle School curriculum is available here.

Upper School(Grades 9 – 12)

In the Upper School, much of the instruction will occur through discussion-based learning, where there are few lectures. Instead, students learn to listen to their peers and to the teacher, to be respectful of different ideas, to question old ideas and accept new ones. In addition, Upper School students will continue to work in small groups, as they have in earlier grades, but will undertake more independent study.

The standard curriculum will include:

1. English
2. Chinese or Spanish, continuing the language begun earlier
3. Other languages for those who have achieved fluency in Chinese or Spanish
4. Physics/ chemistry/ biology/ science electives
5. Math
6. World Course (likely to overlap with standard offerings in history and science)
7. History
8. Art/ music/ drama/ dance/ film/ photography
9. Life skills

Competitive athletics will begin at the Avenues gymnasium and at Chelsea Piers, only three blocks away.

Some students will also take classes that prepare them for the Advanced Placement (AP) exams given in the spring each year. While there are 30 possible exams, our students are most likely to choose:

1. English language/literature
2. Biology, chemistry, and physics at the B/C level
3. Computer science
4. Calculus AB and BC
5. Chinese
6. Spanish
7. U.S. history
8. World history

A chart of the Upper School curriculum is available here.

Additional specifics about the curriculum for each grade level will be available in late spring 2012.

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