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In the sixth grade, art students learn to look at and respond to works of art, objects in nature, events, and the environment. They also learn to use the vocabulary of the visual arts to express their observations. Students use a variety of media to create increasingly complex original works of art reflecting personal choices and increased technical skill. All of these components of art making are combined in a safe and fun environment that encourages creativity and creative risk taking.

Learning and the Brain is a general survey class focused primarily upon the “learning process” and principle topics associated with the acquisition, interpretation, organization, storage, and retrieval of information. Students are asked to continually reflect on their own learning process, their unique pattern of strengths and weaknesses, and the similarities and differences between their process and that of others in the class. Controversial topics, such as learning styles, laterality, multiple intelligences, and the like, are presented during class discussions in an effort to promote students’ critical thinking skills. Near the midpoint of the term, students complete an Executive Functioning Self-Assessment (adapted from the work of George McCloskey) to further examine their own strengths and weaknesses as it relates to the areas of attention, engagement, memory, efficiency, etc. The course concludes the term with studies of classical and operant conditioning, schedules of reinforcement, sensation, perception, and other related topics.

Spanish II is a second-year Spanish course that follows the successful completion of Spanish 1A and 1B. As a high school level course, the pace is necessarily rigorous. The emphasis is on solidifying the foundational concepts taught in the Level I course, while building the student’s mastery through the study of advanced verb tenses. This class is taught primarily in the target language and students are expected to participate only in Spanish. Skills that emphasize reading, writing, listening, and speaking are woven into every lesson. Cultural studies include the history of Mexico, the diversity found in different regions of the Spanish-speaking world, and the culinary contribution of Spanish and Latin American kitchens to the world palate. Upon successful completion of Spanish II, student are prepared to advance to Level III at IMS or in secondary school.

Spanish 1A is an introductory course and the rough equivalent to the first half of Level 1 Spanish in high school. The class begins with verbal practice in greetings, introductions and to introduce rules for pronunciation. Throughout the year this course covers foundational rules of grammar primarily in the present tense. Lessons related to school, food, family and daily activities help build a foundation in basic vocabulary. Daily activities include all four modalities: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Class participation is encourage through verbal exercises. A variety of cultural units are studied in order to bring a relevance to the student as they explore the richness in the lives of the people of Latin America and Spain. Successful completion of this course advances the student to the next level, Spanish 1B.

Latin IB, the second half of the two-year program, begins with a thorough review of the material covered in IA. Once the class has demonstrated a solid understanding of the basics, the course moves on to more difficult concepts, including the passive voice, demonstrative pronouns, adjectives, and participles. Passage translation becomes more prevalent, and more emphasis is placed on reading involving Roman mythology and history like in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Latin IB also studies a Roman author that each student gets to choose, research and even pretend to be. The class ends the year by creating their own Roman frescoes out of plaster and chalk. The successful completion of the two-year course earns credit for Latin 1 at the secondary school level.

Mandarin IB is an elementary course for beginners following Mandarin IA or an equivalent level. Students will advance their language skills to a novice-high level, covering topics such as asking for updates, discussing activity durations, talking about family and jobs, inquiring about food and tickets, and understanding Chinese characters. The course introduces approximately 170 new characters, aiming for students to master around 300 characters, and recognize around 600 words upon completion. Students will practice using complete sentences, engage in simple conversations about everyday topics, and ask and answer questions on familiar subjects. Cultural knowledge will include practices related to ages, family names, Chinese cuisine, monetary units, education, and notable schools of thought.

The goal of the fifth grade math program is to solidify, through review, the basic operations with whole numbers and decimals. The students are then introduced to the four operations with fractions. Units on geometry and measurement conclude the year’s work. A clear and thorough record of student achievement is maintained in each student’s notebook.

Math games and brainteasers are also employed to improve the student’s ability to think mathematically, notice patterns and solve problems logically. The class also emphasizes the practice of mental math activities.