OUR CURRICULUM PHILOSOPHY
Highpoint's educational philosophy is for teachers to focus on addressing the individual needs of each child, including their strengths and weaknesses. Highpoint teachers enjoy the freedom of being able to pace their teaching based on the progress made by the majority of their students as they achieve the Strands, Standards and Benchmarks described in Florida's Sunshine State Standards and the CPALMS Tool Kits, Curriculum Planning and Learning Management System.
The Textbooks and iPad Apps utilized correlate with the new CPALMS Standards Tool Kits, the State of Florida's official source for standards information and course description. The primary publisher utilized at Highpoint is Pearson Prentice-Hall (for Math, Phonics, Science, Social Studies and Reading.) The majority of these textbooks are digital and purchased by Parents as interactive iPad compatible books. McGraw-Hill is utilized for Language Arts, upper-grade Math and Houghton Mifflin for Health. Our programs encourage our students to become avid readers, writers, thinkers and enquirers. Students are encouraged to analyze real world problems, apply data, evaluate results and learn to communicate their understanding to others.
Over the past five years we have been researching different curriculum standards including the COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS since standardized testing requirements were being improved upon all around the Nation. However, after over half a decade of working with our students and designing rigorous curriculum programs to meet their needs, we have decided to step away from the Common Core trend and return to more traditional methods of instruction while integrating some of the learned concepts of Common Core. Some skills that remain important to us and will be focused on within the new curriculum guidelines are the ability to analyze problems and think through solutions critically, how to "think outside the box" to arrive at an answer and self-check your work, among other things.
Florida's Sunshine State Standards and CPALMS clearly communicate what is expected of students at each grade level. This will allow our teachers to be better equipped to know exactly what they need to help students learn as well as providing our teachers with the necessary tools and resources needed to be the most efficient and effective teachers possible. Our focus remains on teaching for conceptual understandings and procedures starting in the early grades, thus enabling teachers to take the time needed to teach core concepts and procedures well—and to give students the opportunity to master them.
These standards define the knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 education careers so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs.
The standards:
The Textbooks and iPad Apps utilized correlate with the new CPALMS Standards Tool Kits, the State of Florida's official source for standards information and course description. The primary publisher utilized at Highpoint is Pearson Prentice-Hall (for Math, Phonics, Science, Social Studies and Reading.) The majority of these textbooks are digital and purchased by Parents as interactive iPad compatible books. McGraw-Hill is utilized for Language Arts, upper-grade Math and Houghton Mifflin for Health. Our programs encourage our students to become avid readers, writers, thinkers and enquirers. Students are encouraged to analyze real world problems, apply data, evaluate results and learn to communicate their understanding to others.
Over the past five years we have been researching different curriculum standards including the COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS since standardized testing requirements were being improved upon all around the Nation. However, after over half a decade of working with our students and designing rigorous curriculum programs to meet their needs, we have decided to step away from the Common Core trend and return to more traditional methods of instruction while integrating some of the learned concepts of Common Core. Some skills that remain important to us and will be focused on within the new curriculum guidelines are the ability to analyze problems and think through solutions critically, how to "think outside the box" to arrive at an answer and self-check your work, among other things.
Florida's Sunshine State Standards and CPALMS clearly communicate what is expected of students at each grade level. This will allow our teachers to be better equipped to know exactly what they need to help students learn as well as providing our teachers with the necessary tools and resources needed to be the most efficient and effective teachers possible. Our focus remains on teaching for conceptual understandings and procedures starting in the early grades, thus enabling teachers to take the time needed to teach core concepts and procedures well—and to give students the opportunity to master them.
These standards define the knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 education careers so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs.
The standards:
- Are aligned with college and work expectations;
- Are clear, understandable and consistent;
- Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills;
- Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards;
- Are informed by other top performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society; and
- Are evidence-based.
