COVID Cautious Registration

Art in Action is a dynamic, hands-on program designed to expand students' artistic skills and creative thinking. Each week, students will study a different artist or artistic movement, explore key concepts and techniques, and analyze examples of notable works before creating their own original pieces inspired by what they have learned. Using a variety of media, students will refine their understanding of color, composition, texture, and design while developing greater confidence and independence in their artistic expression.

First quarter, students explore the exciting world of abstract art, using color, line, shape, and movement to create expressive and imaginative work. Focusing on art that does not rely on realistic images, students will experiment with color theory, composition, and emotional expression as they develop their own unique visual ideas. Featured artists include Wassily Kandinsky, Jackson Pollock, Piet Mondrian, and Mark Rothko.

A partial list of projects this quarter includes: emotion color painting, drip/splatter painting, grid compositions, translate sound into visual forms, line energy drawings, color field painting , abstract collage, and balanced abstract compositions using acrylic paint, tempera paint, liquid watercolor, brushes (round, flat, fan), palette
trays, large drawing paper, canvas boards, butcher paper, masking tape, painter's tape, sponges, droppers, straws, cardboard tools, markers, oil pastels, chalk pastels, colored pencils, collage paper, magazines, tissue paper, glue sticks, liquid glue, and scissors.

Topics in this series include: Abstract Adventures (Quarter 1), Watercolor Wonders (Quarter 2), Global Gallery (Quarter 3), and Fantasy & Fiction- Harry Potter Inspired Art (Quarter 4)

Discover the first battles of the American War of Independence, Lexington and Concord, from the "shot heard 'round the world" to the surprising showdown between colonial farmers and the mighty soldiers of the British Empire.

Using artistic model-making techniques, hand tools, and historical maps, students will create a 10 X 14 diorama board of a famous battle from American History. They will customize their dioramas with landforms, waterways, plant life, and paint and populate it with 1:72 scale invading armies and their adversaries for historical re-enactments. Once individual projects are constructed, students will combine their dioramas alongside those of their classmates to approximate a larger battlefield terrain. Students will spend the remainder of the quarter learning about the tactics and outcomes of the conquest while playing a table-top strategy game. Student strategists will use a custom historical wargaming rule system for moving troops and siege equipment. Along with their classmates, students will see how battles progressed and test different scenarios that might have occurred with different battlefield choices.

Course documents such as maps, game rules and all other instructional media will be available via a Google Drive link which will be emailed to parents. Topics in this series include: Lexington & Concord (American Revolution)- Quarter 1; The Alamo (Mexican-American War)- Quarter 2; Gettysburg (Civil War)- Quarter 3; and The Battle of San Juan Hill (Spanish-American War)- Quarter 4. There is a $25.00 materials fee payable to the instructor on the first day of class.

Prerequisites: Minimum age 8

Konnichiwa (Hello)! Do you want to better understand your favorite anime, manga, or J-pop lyrics, chat with Japanese friends or neighbors, or simply explore the fascinating language and culture of the "Land of the Rising Sun." Whatever your reason, this introductory Japanese course is your chance to begin building real communication skills from the ground up.

Students will focus on speaking and listening through practical, everyday conversation while also beginning to read and write the Japanese writing systems: hiragana, katakana, and beginner kanji. Students will learn vocabulary, grammar, and expressions for introducing themselves, talking about hobbies and interests, describing likes and dislikes, discussing foods and drinks, using numbers and colors, and understanding common everyday phrases. Along the way, they will also gain insight into the humor, emotion, and cultural nuances that make Japanese media so engaging. This class is a welcoming introduction for students who are curious about Japan, excited to study a new language, and ready to begin their Japanese-learning adventure. In class, students will practice conversation, play games, role-play, and watch video clips of Japanese conversation and culture explorations.

Note: A class textbook(s) will be identified by August 1.

Our readers and writers will explore classic tales in a variety of creative, multi-media interpretations. Pulling from classic children's literature including fairy tales, fables, and favorites, such as Newberry Award medalists, the group will explore 3-4 well-known stories each quarter (generally spending 2 weeks per tale).

First quarter will feature the tales of Tortoise and the Hare and The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

For each story, the instructor will share a lively read-aloud of the featured story. Next, the class will watch a short clip of an animated, televised, or stage version of the same story. Finally, the group will hear a re-telling of the same story from a different angle, such as one adapted to a different theme, a different era, or a different culture.

Students will discuss what was the same and what was different among the different adaptations. Was a character added or omitted? Was the performed version true to the original? Finally, students will write and illustrate their own, original re-telling of the story by changing characters, setting, or even crafting a surprise, new ending. New Twists on Old Tales introduces some basic literary elements and rudimentary literary analysis skills to encourage children to think more deeply about what they read.

Topics in this Series: Favorite Fables (Quarter 1), Fantasy Fiction (Quarter 2), Marvelous Myths (Quarter 3), and Astonishing Adventures (Quarter 4)

Preparation for Pre-Algebra is a year-long curriculum that will teach the fundamentals a student must master before embarking pre-algebra, algebra, and beyond. The class will review arithmetic skills, operations, and number theory. Key topics include fractions, rates, ratios, decimals, and percentages. Students will learn the computational operations of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions and decimals. They will learn what decimals stand for, how they relate to fractions, and how to convert between the two. They will discover how rates and ratios are also fractions. Students will learn how to work with negative numbers including strategies for completing all four common operations with negative numbers. The class will also cover exponents and orders of magnitude to make sense of really small and really big numbers and common operations.

This class will also emphasize real world applications of the mathematical concepts through word problems so students become comfortable switching between prose (written descriptions) and mathematical representation (numbers, symbols) of real world examples such as money, mileage, weights, percentages, and scientific measures.

Note:  This class has two weekly sessions with Tuesdays in-person in a COVID cautious (masked) classroom from 3:15 pm - 4:10 pm and Fridays in a virtual Zoom classroom from 2:00 pm- 2:55 pm.

Prerequisites: This course can be considered a pre-pre-algebra class that will teach the core concepts typically covered in later elementary school/early middle school after a general arithmetic curriculum and before pre-algebra. While different curriculums and student pacing will vary, this class would be appropriate for a student who has successfully covered long division, multiplication of multiple digit numbers, and an introduction to simple fractions and who has complete mastery of multiplication facts, skills often aligned with 5th grade mathematics.

Workload: Students should expect to spend 3-4 hours per week outside of class to complete practice problems, homework, and assessments.

Assignments: The Canvas online class management system will be used to post assignments and scores. Students should have their own e-mail address to be set up users of the Canvas system. Parents can also be set up as Canvas guests/observers for purposes of tracking the student's progress and workload.

Assessments: In this class, the instructor will assess a student's progress by: checking that weekly homework sets are complete; spot-checking the full solution 1-2 select problems in class each week, and giving quarterly take-home tests. Points will also be awarded for class participation. Parents will be able to view accumulated points awarded in the class for purpose of determining a parent-awarded course grade.

Textbook: Students should rent of purchase the class text: EP Math 5/6 Workbook (ISBN# 979-8643323693).

Prerequisites: None

What does it really mean to think like a scientist? In this hands-on, curiosity-driven series, students explore the world through observation, experimentation, and discovery as they build real scientific understanding. Each quarter focuses on a different branch of science giving students the chance to investigate living systems, microscopic organisms, chemical reactions, and the natural world while developing critical thinking, lab skills, and scientific confidence.

How does life work at its most basic level, and how are traits passed from one generation to the next? This quarter, students explore the building blocks of life, from cell structure and function to DNA as the blueprint of living organisms, while investigating traits, variation, and inheritance. Example labs include building 3D cell models, conducting osmosis experiments, completing trait surveys, simulating Punnett squares, and designing a "create-a-creature" inheritance project.

Topics in this series include: Biology & Genetics (Quarter 1), Microbiology (Quarter 2), Chemistry (Quarter 3), and Environmental Science (Quarter 4). There is a $20.00 lab fee due payable to the instructor on/before the start of clas