The scope and sequence of our curriculum and school projects are designed to develop, over the course of a child’s education at Briskin Elementary, lifelong habits of mind, heart, and practice.
Deep conceptual engagement with topics is taught concurrently with the practice of highly effective skills to ensure that children’s minds develop and retain the processes necessary to be critical thinkers. Students are taught to find, filter and evaluate information and make connections between disciplines. Our teachers design lessons that are holistic and engaging intellectually, socially, emotionally, spiritually and physically.
Projects are designed to develop each student’s ability to increase concentration and attend to a task, as well as collaborate with partners or a group. These activities include: mindfulness, participation in orchestra, school-wide programs, homework and projects, as well as the decorum and attention that are developed through ceremony and service.
Our curriculum is a dynamic living document that is continually honed, advanced and enriched by the latest research, educational tools and teaching materials. Utilizing an array of flexible study units that meet or exceed state and national standards, our faculty meets regularly to discuss, collaborate and design new units, developing precise teaching materials, as well as critical opportunities for students to explore their own approaches.
Forums and forms of self-expression abound in our school. From the verbal to the written, from fine arts to performing arts to technology, music and athletics, our students engage, practice, formulate and evolve who they are through multiple modes.
Our emphasis on social and emotional growth provides the foundation for successful academic engagement. We are a nurturing community that promotes leadership, responsibility, and caring. Using the Responsive Classroom approach, RULER, and mindfulness to school-wide practices, students are provided with consistent, developmentally appropriate messages and methods to become lifelong community members and learners.
