Responsive Classroom

The EVCS mission statement says “EVCS will provide a stimulating and engaging learning environment…EVCS believes all children can and will learn at high levels when provided with the right learning conditions.” In order to create the “right learning conditions,” EVCS has implemented the Responsive Classroom model, which is based on the belief that there is a direct correlation between strong social skills and academic competence & success.  Responsive Classroom is a research and evidence-based approach to elementary education that leads to greater teacher effectiveness, higher student achievement and improved school climate.  Responsive Classroom practices help educators become more effective in three key domains – each of which enables and enriches the others:

• Engaging Academics – Teachers create learning tasks that are active, interactive, appropriately challenging, purposeful, and connected to students’ interests.
• Positive Community – Teachers nurture a sense of belonging, significance, and emotional safety so that students feel comfortable taking risks and working with a variety of peers.
• Effective Management – Teachers create a calm, orderly environment that promotes autonomy and allows students to focus on learning.

The EVCS mission statement also refers to recognizing student capability, fostering connectedness, and offering ways to contribute.  By nurturing these things, we hope to graduate students who feel empowered to confidently and clearly express informed opinions orally and in writing.  Students with this ability will be able to connect and contribute to their immediate and broader communities once they leave EVCS.  We will help our students develop this skill by letting them know that their voice is valued & powerful, and giving them many opportunities to practice expressing informed opinions across the curriculum.  Some of the opportunities we offer are:

• Morning meeting in every classroom every day (called Advisory in our middle school)
• Student planned and student led whole school meetings once a month
• Classroom greeters
• Community service projects at each grade level
• Buddy classes to foster cross-age friendships and mentor/mentee relationships
• Explicit SEL lessons dealing such as bullying, prejudice, growth mindset, personal responsibility, identity, etc.
• Students complete an independent Pathways Project specific to each grade level (project-based learning focused on identity, beliefs, and interests)
• Emphasis on inquiry across the curriculum – provides practice in asking important questions and providing evidence

Review the EVCS Curriculum Opt Out Policy here.

English Language Arts

ELA is taught in alignment with the NYS Next Generation Learning Standards. EVCS has incorporated instructional practices aligned with the Science of Reading into ELA instruction, shifting to place a greater focus on foundational literacy skills so that fewer students need interventions and more students are reading on grade level by 3rd grade.

In grades K-3 we will have approximately 30 minutes per day of explicit reading instruction using the Really Great Reading curriculum as the base and additional Heggerty phonemic awareness lessons to supplement as needed. Students spend lots of time in application, practicing decoding, encoding, and dictation.

We adopted Wit & Wisdom in the 2023-2024 school year.  Wit & Wisdom is a comprehensive English Language Arts curriculum that centers on the study of rich, engaging, diverse texts that have been curated to build student knowledge of important ideas in the liberal arts and the sciences. The approach is integrated and text-based: daily reading, writing, speaking, listening, grammar, and vocabulary study is based on—and draws on evidence from—exceptional texts. 

In grades 4-6 students will learn through whole-class novel-based instruction centered around building knowledge. Paired non-fiction texts will be used regularly to build background knowledge. The majority of the novels taught use the Reading Reconsidered curriculum units created by Teach Like a Champion. Novels have been carefully selected to provide “mirrors and windows” for our students, allowing them opportunities to see themselves in the literature, along with opportunities to learn about people and cultures different from their own. In addition, texts represent a variety of genres.

Small Group Reading: In addition to core reading instruction, one period a day is set aside for all students in grades K-6 for differentiated reading instruction. Students will rotate through teacher led groups and independent activities. For students who are not yet fluent readers (typically grades K-2), the focus will be on foundational skills such as phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency. For more fluent readers, small groups will focus on close reading and discussion of how texts work (considering the impacts of the author’s word choices and structure), and rereading text. Teachers will use formative assessment to determine student needs.

Middle School (grades 7 & 8): Middle school ELA instruction is also centered around building knowledge. Units center around novels, plays or short stories. Paired non-fiction texts are used regularly to build background knowledge. The majority of the units are from the Reading Reconsidered curriculum by Teach Like a Champion. Texts have been carefully selected to provide “mirrors and windows” for our students, allowing them opportunities to see themselves in the literature, along with opportunities to learn about people and cultures different from their own. Units incorporate essential questions to promote rigorous critical thinking and discussion.

Writing: EVCS will teach writing through a combination of content embedded writing (that will occur during reading, Science, and Social Studies) and the Writing Workshop model. Content embedded writing will typically focus on instruction at the sentence or paragraph level. Several times each year, teachers will use the writing workshop model to support students in producing longer pieces of writing ranging through narrative, persuasive, informational and poetry. Direct writing instruction takes place in the form of a mini-lesson at the beginning of each writing workshop and is followed by active writing time, at which time the teacher moves around the room conferring with students about their work. Students are encouraged to write for an audience and each period ends with a sharing of student work. Each unit of study culminates with a publishing party where students share their completed work. 

Grades K-3 Writing: The Handwriting Without Tears curriculum was selected after seeing the program implemented by Occupational Therapists in our kindergarten and first grade classrooms.  The curriculum draws from years of innovation and research to provide developmentally appropriate, multisensory tools and strategies. The program follows research that demonstrates children learn more effectively by actively doing, with materials that address all styles of learning.

Math

Grades K-5: The Zearn curriculum is used in grades K-5. Zearn lessons follow the Engage NY/Eureka Math scope and sequence. With a focus on fewer topics centered on the major work of the grade band, students develop an understanding of the why, not just the how behind the math. Zearn promotes deep understanding of concepts and flexible problem-solving skills through an emphasis on visualization, drawing to solve, and concrete representations of abstract concepts. Instructional formats include both whole-group and small-group learning. EVCS incorporates Zearn independent digital lessons as a supplement to teacher-led instruction, when appropriate, to provide students opportunities to practice and deepen understanding within their zone of proximal development.

Grades 6-8: Math classes are departmentalized and taught by subject specialists in grades 6, 7 and 8 and uses Desmos Math Curriculum. Teachers build units and lessons aligned to the NYS Next Generation Learning Standards and choose the resources that work best for their students. Teachers use Engage NY modules as a resource and supplement with additional resources. EVCS offers Regents Algebra in addition to 8th grade mathematics to those students whose scores and work habits have qualified them to take this advanced math course.  Passing the Regents exam can earn EVCS 8th graders high school credit

Science 

Grades K-5: Teachers in grades K-5 use the Mystery Science curriculum aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Each lesson is aligned to a topic, performance expectations, science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts. Science instruction at the Elmwood Village Charter School is designed to nurture the excitement which comes with a growing understanding of the world around us.  Instruction will be primarily inquiry-based, with emphasis placed on hands-on experiences, experimentation, and field trips.  This will help students develop critical thinking, problem solving, and teamwork skills.  Each lesson contains a central mystery, a video, discussion questions, supplemental reading and a hands-on activity.

Grades 6-8: In grades 6-8 teachers will use the Amplify Science curriculum, adopted for its strong alignment to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and for the robust online components, which enable strong instruction and online lab work. Students in 6th grade will take Earth & Space Science, 7th graders will take Physical Science, and 8th graders will take Life Science. EVCS will also offer the Living Environment Regents course to our 8th grade students, which can qualify them for high school credit if they pass the Regents exam. Students who choose this pathway will take this in addition to our 8th grade Life Science course. Living Environment will be delivered during an enrichment period.

Middle school students have lab sections built into their schedule, in addition to their regularly scheduled science class, during which students are engaged in activities that require them to utilize the scientific method to answer scientific questions based on the current topic of study. 

Social Studies

Teacher-created lessons are guided by the New York State K–8 Social Studies Framework, which is anchored in the New York State Next Generation ELA Standards and New York State Learning Standards for Social Studies. Teachers draw on the instructional and curriculum design tools made available in the New York State K-12 Social Studies Resource Toolkit. Teachers work across grade level teams at both campuses to collaboratively build lessons. A particular emphasis has been placed on incorporating social justice content into social studies units. Over the course of two years, teachers and administrators from each campus participated in an anti-bias institute through Community Roots/Roots Connected leading to the creation of common social justice units at each grade level. 

Health

Grades K-5: The Great Body Shop curriculum is aligned to state and national standards for health education as well as the Healthy People 2020 initiative. The curriculum includes topics that cover all aspects of physical, mental, social, emotional health and safety. Next Generation Learning Standards for English, Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects embedded in each lesson

Grades 6-8: The Healthy Lifestyle Choices Middle School Program focuses on teaching important health skills identified in the National Health Education Standards with an emphasis on promoting positive behaviors and helping students to advocate for their own health.  The program addresses goal-setting and decision-making as it relates to fitness, nutrition, conflict resolution, safety, and substance abuse prevention. The program is divided into units of instruction including: Wellness, Mental and Emotional Health, Effective Communication and Decision Making, Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drugs, Injury and Violence Prevention, Physical Activity and Nutrition Growth, and Development, Diseases, and Environmental Health.

Specials 

The Arts: EVCS is committed to providing enriching and meaningful experiences in the arts to all students. The arts are viewed as another means through which we facilitate student mastery of core academic standards as well as a way to value and enhance the array of multiple intelligences.The arts are integrated into core classroom instruction as they relate to core academic skills development and our teaching artists regularly collaborate with classroom teachers on lesson planning. In addition, we offer dedicated classes in dance, visual art, and music to all students weekly. Instrumental music lessons are provided beginning in Grade 5 and if instrument purchase/rental cost is a barrier, instruments are provided by the school. Arts instruction is aligned with NYS standards.

Physical Education: All students receive physical education twice per week. Instruction is aligned to NYS Standards. Students learn how to establish and maintain physical fitness and the importance of establishing a healthy lifestyle.  Students engage in activities designed to improve their coordination and help them develop body awareness. Students also learn about the importance of good sportsmanship.

Spanish: All students in grades K-6 receive Spanish for one period each week. Students in grade 7 receive Spanish instruction two periods per week and students in grade 8 will receive Spanish instruction 3 periods per week. 8th grade students will be eligible to take the Spanish Regents exam, which can earn them high school credit. Students learn primarily through teacher-created lessons and focus on conversational Spanish in the early grades. Students also learn about Spanish culture. Learning will be enhanced through field trips and guest speakers.

Library and Computers: All students take library and computer class at least once each week. During their library time, they learn basic skills around information literacy and have a chance to select books to check out. During computer. they learn basic keyboarding and computer skills. The library-media specialist works closely with classroom teachers to integrate classroom content into what they are doing in these areas.

Teacher Professional Development

Since the adoption of the Next Generation Learning Standards, EVCS has worked to ensure that our curriculum is aligned and to adapt to the instructional shifts emphasized in the standards. Teachers at EVCS have two weeks of professional development each August. During this time, teachers work under the direction of the Director of Curriculum and Instruction in grade level and/or subject level teams to create a year-long curriculum map/pacing guide for each subject. This is something we revisit yearly, because curriculum mapping is an ongoing process and should be informed by experience and new information. This also allows us to add depth and clarity to these plans over time.

New York State Assessments

The New York State Assessments are an integral measure through which our students demonstrate their proficiency and mastery. These assessment results help to inform decisions about staffing and programming to ensure that all EVCS students are able to meet or exceed the performance standards. The Instructional Leadership Team meets with all instructional staff to analyze assessment data and small curricular adjustments are sometimes made as a result of these meetings in order to address gaps that are identified.  In addition, grade level teams meet weekly during common planning time to discuss curriculum and student progress, and spend a considerable amount of time analyzing interim assessment results and planning instruction based on these results. 

The NYS Science Assessment is administered, as per state regulations, in grades 5 (beginning in 2023) and 8, to measure student progress toward meeting State standards. Data from these assessments inform instructional planning for the following school year.

Diagnostic Assessments

STAR Reading and Math Assessments are computer assessments given to each student three times a year (each assessment takes approximately 20 minutes to administer). STAR’s Early Literacy assessment is given to students in K and 1, and the STAR Reading and Math assessments are given to all students in grades 1-8.  These are used at the beginning of the year as a universal screening tool to drive instruction. The assessments are given again at the mid-year mark to monitor the progress of each student, and to identify strengths and weaknesses at the student level and classroom level. STAR data helps teachers design instruction to meet the needs of specific learners, ensuring that they are getting appropriate supports and challenges. 

Students are given a writing assessment at the beginning and end of the year. Students in grades K-3 are given a narrative writing protocol that is graded with an accompanying rubric in order to ensure consistency and alignment. In grades 4 and up, students are asked to write in response to reading using RACE (restate the question, answer the question, cite evidence, and explain the evidence). The beginning of the year writing sample gives teachers a baseline that allows him/her to plan writing instruction according to the specific needs of the students in his/her class. Progress monitoring is done throughout the year on a more informal basis. The end of the year prompt is used to assess the growth made by each student over the course of the year, and to inform instructional decisions for the following year.  

In the 2021-2022 school year, all students in grades K-3 will receive 5-7 minute diagnostic decoding assessments from Really Great Reading 3 times a year (students in need of intervention will receive additional progress monitoring). These diagnostic decoding assessments will also be used to identify gaps for students in grades 4-8 who are reading significantly below grade level. 

Interim assessments in English Language Arts and Math (K-6) are given four times a year. Due to curricular changes in both ELA and Math over the last year, EVCS is currently working to build new, better aligned interims for the 2021-2022 school year. The results of interim assessments are immediately disaggregated by content standard, allowing teachers to identify strengths and weaknesses in students’ understanding. Teachers meet in grade level teams to compare results, share instructional strategies and lessons, and plan for re-teaching. 

Academic Programs & Key Design Elements

Grading Policy

The EVCS grading policy supports the instructional focus on mastery of standards. We have a standards-based report card that reflects each student’s current level of proficiency on specific standards within each subject area. Academic skills are assessed separately from student work habits and effort.  Students and parents can see what students have mastered and where they still need help.  By focusing on mastery goals instead of performance goals students are more likely to view success as a result of effort rather than ability and develop a sense of ownership over their learning.

Differentiation

All students at EVCS are expected to learn and achieve at high levels, but we recognize that all students will not learn at the same pace and students require different levels of support. Teachers at EVCS are required to provide evidence of differentiation in all lesson plans, and core instructional programs include resources for re-teach and challenge activities. Each classroom in the school has a full-time general education teacher and a full-time instructional assistant. There is also a full-time special education teacher at each grade level and the school has one full-time ENL teacher and two AIS teachers.  This low student to teacher ratio allows teachers to do ample small group work and enables us to differentiate instruction according to students’ needs.  

More Time on Task

In grades K through 6, the schedule is broken into forty-minute periods with double-period blocks for ELA and mathematics, allowing teachers the time necessary to effectively utilize all of the core components of our ELA & math programs. In addition to the eighty minute ELA block, the schedule also contains one forty minute period for small group literacy instruction. This period allows teachers the opportunity to more fully differentiate instruction by grouping students based on their particular academic needs. This period is also used for academic intervention (AIS) so students in need of AIS do not miss out on grade level instruction.  

Top 8 Reasons to Attend EVCS Middle School

1. High academic performance, including access to high school-level Regents Courses
2. Continued social-emotional supports
3. School leadership opportunities, such as 8th grade school jobs including safety patrol, library helper, and more
4. Strong foundation for future success, including access to Say Yes Buffalo Scholarship
5. Unique experiences that prepare students for the transition to high school (ex. 8th grade camp, presentations from local high schools, and more)
6. Increased opportunities for afterschool clubs, music, and sports
7. Development as a strong, empathetic leader through volunteer events, serving as ambassadors, and participating in buddy programs with elementary classrooms
8. With approximately 50 students per grade, students continue to benefit from smaller cohorts and a stronger sense of community