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Special Programs Director
Encinitas Country Day School students are afforded broad opportunities to dance and sing their way though each day. Music and Drama classes are offered during the school day, and after-school enrichment classes in piano keyboard, rock band, musical theater skills, and dance afford students a full selection to develop their talents to the highest level.
In addition to aligned science curriculum content and the Montessori “great stories” that provide students with an understanding of their time and place in the universe, our classroom curriculum includes important lessons in biology, earth and physical science. Those lessons are reinforced through curriculum related visits to our science lab and conservation area. Lab and field work enriches classroom learning and provides valuable experience using the scientific method.
Lower School students have weekly instruction in basic conversational Spanish, introducing them to the richness and beauty of foreign language and culture. Students begin learning Spanish through fun, interesting, and interactive activities, including stories, songs, games, listening station, and cultural activities. First and second grade classes emphasize the learning domains of listening and speaking. Third grade students progress to involve all four domains for acquiring language (speaking, reading, writing, and listening) and practice using reading and writing exercises in their language lab and classrooms. Fourth and fifth grade students receive Rosetta Stone online access and opportunities for supervised practice during their weekly Spanish Lab time and are encouraged to use their access daily in their classrooms and at home. In this way, our students are prepared to begin formal Spanish coursework in sixth grade when they attend three classes each week that will progress to five classes a week in middle school.
Our students begin to learn keyboarding in their early elementary classrooms. They visit the technology lab to learn the basics of computer technology and begin working with important computer-based programs for word processing, spreadsheets and database. As student abilities progress, technology classes are translated cross-curriculum to support student projects in the Science Lab, Art Studio, Performing Arts and on stage, on iPad apps used for math and science classes and in using online research capabilities available through our Library, Media Center, and throughout the school.
ECD K-8 students visit the school’s Art Studio for weekly or elective visual arts instruction. Classes include standards based lessons in art media, techniques, and history. Throughout the school year, students learn and create in a relaxed, positive, studio environment. A walk through the annual Student Art Show, held each spring, confirms our belief that there truly is an artist within every student.
