Specialists

Visual Arts

The art program nurtures the process of discovery and expression through different mediums. Each class meets once a week in the art room, transitional kindergarten and kindergarten meet for 45 minutes and first through sixth grades meet for an hour. When applicable, the art curriculum is integrated with the classroom studies while also being a part of a sequential program with respect to media and skills in both 2D and 3D arenas.

Students explore all dimensions of art from the principles of design and art elements, to practical applications, to formally observing and respecting the unique work of other artists and themselves.

Individually, each child is viewed with an artistic potential fully capable of succeeding within his or her own right. Accordingly, each project is set up with guidelines that enable even the reluctant artist to accomplish what is attempted and the more advanced artist to pursue his or her own course of discovery and success. The ideal of “There Are No Mistakes…Only Happy Accidents” is emphasized, pulling away from any notion of perfection in the arts thereby allowing for multiple solutions, a high level of comfort, and a strong sense of self-confidence.

Village School Library

The mission of the Village School Library is to provide information that supports the curricular needs of the students, faculty and staff. This information will be provided through a core collection of reference and circulating materials and supplemented by online resources. The collection strives to meet the school’s educational goals as well as the diverse interests and cultures of the school population and promote an appreciation of literature and love of reading. The library program strives to develop the knowledge and skills of students so that they can effectively retrieve and evaluate materials in any library. Grades TK through fifth attend weekly library classes..

Music

The music program is designed to foster growth in music in an environment where students can be creative and successful. Students attend music class once a week. Many of the activities are based on Carl-Orff’s ideas of teaching through a child-centered approach. Students are taught age-appropriate songs and music games that allow them to produce musical results. In addition, students often accompany themselves on pitched and non-pitched percussion instruments. Students are always encouraged to try their best in music and the emphasis is not on achieving a certain skill level, but on personal growth and effort.

The music curriculum is also designed to equip students with a fundamental understanding of Western music. Basic concepts relating to melody, harmony, rhythm, notation, instruments, and music history are covered in units throughout the year. Students are also afforded opportunities in a performance setting to showcase music they have learned. These situations encourage community and require students to work together. The students are given opportunities to create moments that will last a lifetime and develop good concert and performance etiquette.

Students are daily afforded opportunities for expression and creativity in music. Through songs and instrument playing children are encouraged to offer their interpretation of musical passages. They are often given boundaries and, in those, express musically their ideas. However, there are also times for completely original compositions. During these moments, students will draw on their own creative ideas and knowledge of music to express themselves.

At Village School, students are given the building blocks that enable them to move on to other areas of musical studies in middle and high school. We believe that the study of music is an essential element to a balanced elementary education experience. It is also the goal of the music program to foster an appreciation for music and it is our hope that students leave with a positive disposition towards music education.

Physical Education/Health

The Physical Education program promotes a positive learning experience, maximizes student participation and creates a successful environment for every child. The program emphasizes a safe, supportive, and cooperative setting where personal development, awareness of fitness, and healthy, social interaction occurs daily. Physical Education contributes to the total growth of a child through experimental movement, motor development and other physical activities. Village School created fifteen units of study throughout the grade levels. Students actively participate in a myriad of games and activities that focus on fun, cooperation and teamwork. Games and activities range from the well-known, track events, basketball and soccer, to the wildly popular obstacle course, crazy eights and animal walks. Students in fourth through sixth grades who would like additional athletic opportunities may participate in the after school Viking Athletics program.

Science

The science program promotes the scientific process, allowing students the ability to discover the world around them in a lab setting. Twice a week, second through sixth grade students visit the science lab to learn about physical, earth, and life sciences. Topics of study range from migration, to balance and motion in nature and climate. Students also learn about plant and animal structures, matter, motion, electricity, weather, oceans, the solar system, erosion, plate tectonics, atmosphere and ecosystems.

Students work independently and in small groups, collecting and interpreting data. The labs focus on science skills, investigations, and the use of technology. A wide range of hands-on activities support the diversity of thinkers in each class. After using critical thinking and scientific reasoning, students report their findings to the class. At the end of the school year, students display their knowledge of the scientific process skills through their participation in the school-wide science fair.

Spanish

The Spanish program is an integral component to Village School’s strong commitment to a quality elementary education. Learning Spanish connects the children with the community of Los Angeles, as well as the rich heritage of our Hispanic world.

Students learn Spanish through a two-fold approach, academics and culture, in a non-immersion curriculum. The aim is for students to gain an aural knowledge of the language and Spanish speakers.

Each class, TK through sixth grade, has Spanish three times a week for thirty minutes. Students learn vocabulary, grammar, conversation, and culture using various learning techniques such as TPR (total physical response), role-play, games, arts and crafts, songs, dances, and theater.

In the younger grades, children learn vocabulary for counting to 40, greetings, and classroom objects. In the middle grades, children write full sentences, learning grammar of nouns, gender, and present tense verbs. In the upper grades, students identify relationships between family members, converse about likes and dislikes, and continue the grammar study focusing on particular irregular verbs and possessive nouns.

Technology @ Village

Village School is committed to providing a technology-rich environment for all members of our community. We recognize that the seamless integration of technology within the educational program is critical for promoting academic achievement and application of the Village Values across all disciplines. Our vision is to expand learning beyond classroom walls, support all learners, and bring the school community closer together, while creating global connections and encouraging innovation, discovery, collaboration.

Technology at Village School is used in innovative and creative ways to enhance our students' learning experiences.

The state of the art Technology Center holds 23 iMacs that run dual-platform providing students the opportunity to experience using both Windows and Mac based software. Students attend classes in the Technology Center once each week, using a variety of software programs and completing a wide range of projects. At other times, technology lessons are given in their classrooms, co-taught by the technology staff and the classroom teacher, in order to further facilitate technology integration into the classroom curriculum.

Whenever possible, Technology Center projects are integrated into another area of study, be it the classroom curriculum or another specialist class. Examples of such projects are: composing music using Sibelius and/or GarageBand, using programming software (Microworlds Jr, Microworlds Robotics EX, Robolab, and/or Scratch) to support mathematics and provide concrete examples of application into the real world, creating maps and studying about communities using Neighborhood Map Machine, and desktop publishing and presentation programs (Google Apps for Education, MS Office suite) to practice the composition of different forms of writing, visual literacy skills, public speaking, and presentation skills. Students also learn keyboarding, internet skills, and create a variety of multimedia presentations using programs such as Pixie3, Photo Booth, and iMovie.

In their classrooms, students use desktop and laptop computers to research information, write stories and reports, and further extend their studies of each unit. Teachers utilize SMART boards, visual presentation devices, and digital cameras, among other things, to create interactive units that enhance and seamlessly integrate technology into their curriculum. iPads are also used in our Lower School, Spanish, and Library to support and extend curricular units of study.

View our Student Showcase to see examples of technology projects.

Parent Technology Academy

A series of technology classes will be offered one Tuesday afternoon each month, focusing on a different topic each session. These hands-on classes are designed to provide parents with the tools and resources needed to assist children with their technology needs. Details are included in the Weekly Update. Contact Jayme Johnson, Director of Academic Technology, for more information.