Standards: The Louisiana State Student Standards for English Language Arts, mathematics, science, social studies and Early Childhood, physical education and music are used as part of a school-wide effort to prepare our students for success in college and careers. The four parts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Profession of Faith, Celebration of Sacraments, Life in Christ, and Christian Prayer are used to guide our students in the formation of Catholic beliefs.
Curriculum: An organized course of study prepares students to master the standards and achieve at high levels. Teachers on our campus develop their own pacing maps based on state student standards available resources. The plan is carried out by teachers as closely as possible, yet allows for needed changes. Each year these curriculum maps are reviewed for modifications and adjustments are made.
All students participate in a structured physical education class. Students in grades 6-8 are able to choose electives such as art, music and Makerspace.
Instruction: Various instructional strategies and techniques are used to teach the curriculum. Certain routines and practices are mutually agreed upon by teachers and administrators to help scaffold mastery of content and guarantee alignment across grade level clusters.
Instructional Technology: In addition to each student in PreK-8 having access to either a tablet or chromebook, SPPS guides students, through the use of an educational platform called CLEVER, to use resources such as IXL. IXL is an adaptive computer program that allows students to practice both reading and math based on skills needed to grow as learners. Through Renaissance Learning, students at SPPS participate in the Accelerated Reader program. Additionally, classroom teachers use google classroom on a regular basis to both assign and to check student work.
Assessment: Curriculum and instruction are monitored through assessment, both formally and informally. Commonly used assessments included school-wide benchmark, screening and diagnostic assessments in addition to progress monitoring and teacher made assessments. The annual standardized assessment used in grades three through seven is TerraNova Next. This test assesses knowledge in reading, English and mathematics. Eighth graders take the PreACT in the spring. PreACT assesses reading, English, mathematics, and science.
Implementation: Weekly lesson plans are developed by teachers and submitted in RenWeb for review by the administrators and curriculum director and are made available to students and parents. Professional learning communities engage teachers in discussions regarding the implementation of curriculum and classroom walkthroughs and observations monitor the effectiveness of teaching.