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Instructional Program Features
The Branch School recognizes that students excel in various ways and progress at different rates, in line with developmentally appropriate instruction. We maintain a low student-teacher ratio throughout the school so that each student has the support and guidance he or she needs to be successful. The curriculum is demanding as we challenge each student to think, to apply skills and knowledge in a variety of ways, and to share his or her unique perspectives on a subject. A thematic approach with interdisciplinary units provides meaningful and relevant learning experiences. Students build skills while working on projects, resulting in a strong academic foundation in all subject areas.
Throughout The Branch School, students are engaged in integrated learning. This is not the whole curriculum, but is complementary. Even before this teaching term came to the forefront of education in the 1990s, integrated learning through a project approach has been a part of The Branch School since its earliest days. Children want to learn about the real world whether they are a preschooler or an elementary student. The project approach selects an idea from the real world to become the focus of study.
Our lessons take advantage of children's natural curiosity through the development of critical thinking skills. Students discover patterns of information and make meaningful connections. They develop understanding through self-discipline, and a body of knowledge becomes their own. They demonstrate their mastery of learning by integrating knowledge and skills. This process of discovery, discipline, and demonstration is a fundamental part of a Branch School education. Students become independent, skilled, and creative. They love learning.
Students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade participate in the Kumon Math program. This program teaches the foundations of mathematics sequentially at each child’s own rate of development. Students must demonstrate accuracy and fluency at every level before progressing to higher levels. Last year almost two thirds of our elementary students placed on the National Kumon Honor Roll. All of our kindergartners placed on the honor roll, capturing first through sixth places! Students in other grades also placed near the top. Our students have consistently placed on the National Kumon Honor Roll for over ten years. Kumon Math is a supplemental math program developed in Japan over forty years ago. It provides students with a strong foundation in the basics needed for success in higher level math. The Branch School recognized early on that knowing basic facts in math enables students to be more successful in problem solving and real world math. Step by step students progress through the levels of Kumon from learning their numbers to high school calculus.
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