Elementary

MCS Elementary School focuses on providing students with the foundation they need for a lifetime of academic success. From Transitional Kindergarten to 5th Grade, students experience a program that is academically rigorous in addition to being spiritually nurturing.

The primary areas of focus for Elementary students include Bible, English Language Arts, History, Math, and Science. Students are also exposed to a broad range of diverse study activities in the areas of Physical Education, MakerSpace, Technology, Spanish, Music, and the Arts.

Bible

Bible is not only integrated throughout each subject area, but is also taught as a subject in all grades TK-8. Weekly chapels teach biblical truth, build character development, and provide opportunities for worship. Our Teacher's are encouraged to incorporate biblical instruction, prayer, and worship in their classrooms on a daily basis.

English Language Arts

MCS utilizes a Balanced Literacy approach that capitalizes on Read Alouds, Mini-lessons, One-to-One Conferring, Strategy Groups, Independent Reading and Writing, and Word Study to develop passionate readers and engaged writers. Our program is based upon the Units of Study developed by Lucy Calkins and her team of developers at The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. Across all grade levels, English Language Arts (ELA) is aligned to CCSS with a formal scope and sequence to ensure the continual progression of reading and writing skills. In the primary grades, beginning readers learn phonemic and phonological skills through movement, music, and meaningful activities. As children gain phonetic competencies comprehension instruction increases. Writing workshops allow students to compose self-selected topics, collaborate and edit with peers, publish their writing, and share their work in an environment that honors the student-author. Students apply their skills across all genres, including narrative, opinion, and expository.

Social Sciences

MCS Social Sciences is grounded in the California History-Social Science Framework. With a biblical worldview and research-based instructional practices, students are encouraged to view history not just as isolated past events but to understand its relevance as they connect the past to the present. To deepen content knowledge, primary sources and simulations facilitate the acquisition of knowledge and development of critical thinking skills.

Mathematics

Envision Math has been adopted in grades K-8. The content reflects a balance of conceptual understanding, procedural skills and fluency, and application. The MCS instructional approach includes the development of mathematical mindsets. Problem-based and visual learning are key strategies to promote mathematical literacy and extended reasoning skills.

Science

The Elementary Science Program supports science instruction for students in Kinder through Fifth Grade. The MCS science program includes all of the Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI’s) of the Next Generation Science Standards and is taught from a biblical worldview. It is the goal at MCS to give students a rigorous and comprehensive science education while comparing and contrasting Christian and secular viewpoints. Providing students with opportunities for the three-dimensional learning outlined in the NGSS, students are guided in hands-on experiments and explorations. Students are led in inquiry-based phenomena-driven lessons using the Five-E Model of instruction.

Educational Technology

Educational technology is just one of the many tools that will be used to continually develop MCS students into strong digital age learners and prepare them to be college and career ready.

Therefore, it is the goal of MCS to train students in the wise and appropriate use of digital devices and social media, ensure the privacy rights of all students, maintain academic integrity, and limit disruptions to the learning environment.

Initial Educational Technology instruction is provided in the Elementary Technology and Middle School Educational Technology classes by our Digital Learning Coaches for both the Elementary and Middle School level. These coaches support our classroom teachers with technology integration in their curriculum across all grades and content. Our technology integration will not supplant the teacher or the human interaction that is so essential for learning; it is intended for use as a tool to enhance learning for all children.

In Elementary classes (Transitional Kindergarten through third grade), each grade level has a class set of Apple iPads that are used to enhance the students' learning experience. In our fourth and fifth grade classrooms students utilize a 1:1 device (Apple iPad) which stays in their classroom to be used as an educational tool to enhance their learning experience and prepare them for middle school.