A Day in the Life


Each day, our students are greeted at the door with a warm welcome. They start instruction in their classrooms at 8:00 am.

Classrooms have around 25 students, one teacher and a teacher assistant. Every grade has a special education teacher.

Our students also work with many other dedicated full-time staff members such as our academic intervention teachers, health and physical education teachers, school nurse, library/media specialist and ENL teacher.

Many other staff members are on hand to support students including a part-time social worker and school counselor. 

Every classroom starts their day with Morning Meeting and participates in the student-led Whole School Morning Meeting once a month. These Morning Meetings build school culture, trust and connection. Students attend art, music, P.E., dance or Spanish classes at least once a week.

Recess is an important part of our days at EVCS, with outdoor time scheduled as a priority for our kids.

Because of an extended school day and school year, EVCS students receive more instructional time than those at other schools. Students know that our community values them as a whole person: including academic, social-emotional & physical health.

K-8 Curriculum

  • Add C.A.R.E.S.

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 and 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:

  • 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, showing them that their voice is powerful, and giving them many opportunities to practice expressing informed opinions across the curriculum. Some of the opportunities we offer are:

  • Daily Morning Meeting in every classroom 
  • Monthly Student-led Whole School Morning Meetings 
  • Classroom Greeters
  • Community Service Projects at each Grade Level
  • Buddy Classes to foster cross-age friendships and mentor relationships
  • Advisory in Grades 7 and 8 
  • End of the Year Student-led Portfolio Reviews
  • Independent Pathways Project specific to each grade level 
  • Emphasis on Inquiry 

At EVCS the Instructional Leadership Team members are continually researching new programs and technology that may enhance learning for all EVCS students. When new programs are piloted and found to be effective, they are carefully integrated into the curriculum, along with the appropriate professional development for teachers.

You can learn more at ResponsiveClassroom.org and OriginsOnline.org.

Special Education & ENL


Elmwood Village Charter Schools employ at least one special education teacher at each grade level who work alongside our general education teachers to utilize strategies that are successful with a wide range of students.

Our full-range of special education services include the Integrated Co-Teaching model in the classroom for students who require specialized instruction; Integrated co-teaching consists of the general education teacher and special education teacher teaching together all day in the classroom. 

Students also receive related services such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy and counseling as needed. Additionally, English language learners are provided both push-in and pull-out opportunities to work with an English as a New Language (ENL) teacher and achieve the same educational goals and standards as the general student population.

 

Physical Education & Athletics


Every child participates in Physical Education and Dance every week.

All of our students are also eligible to participate in a variety of age-appropriate sports and physical education activities, ranging from running and soccer to league basketball and more.

 

Art & Music


Elmwood Village Charter Schools offer arts education in the form of weekly classes in music, art, and cultural dance. Research suggests a significant positive relationship between arts study and overall academic achievement from elementary through postsecondary school.

At EVCS, art is a vehicle used to explore, examine and understand the unique ways that artists throughout time and space have helped to shape the world they live in.

Practicing art-making allows students to understand how artists develop ideas as well as learn how to work and think like an artist. In addition to our small in-school instrumental lessons, afterschool group instrumental lessons are provided onsite by InSchool Music.

Arrangements for afterschool lessons are made directly between a student’s parents and InSchool Music. 


Extracurricular Activities

Our community offers a wide range of extracurricular activities to get involved in, starting as early as Kindergarten. Students can join Soccer Shots (K-2) to learn soccer with a focus on character development that positively impacts children’s lives on and off the field. Girls on the Run (3-8) inspires girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum that creatively integrates running. Our chess club (3-8) helps students ‘make the smart move’. Students can also join activities from yoga to basketball and drama club to chorus throughout their time at EVCS. Click here to see opportunities for each grade level.

 

Afterschool Programs

EVCS partners with Best Self Behavioral Health and the Boys & Girls Club of Buffalo to provide onsite after-school care until 5:30 p.m. as a convenience to parents and guardians of our students. Spots in each program are limited and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Learn more about our after-school providers at bestselfwny.org and BGCBuffalo.org.