Educational Program

 Core Curriculum

 Middle School Curriculum

 Complementary Curriculum

 Enrichment Programs

 Student Performance
 and Assessment

 Bell Schedule

En Español

Middle School Curriculum

Adolescence is one of the most exciting periods of intellectual, physical, social and emotional development in the human life span. Children are moving from concrete to analytical thinking.  Each child is maturing at their own pace and Discovery Charter School recognizes this and combining the need for academic proficiency and enlightened responsiveness to the physical, emotional, social and intellectual challenges of adolescence students is what makes for a successful middle school.

The Discovery Middle School Program (Grades 6 – 8) is based on developmentally appropriate teaching methods that successfully integrate teaching that accommodates the whole child with respect to individual learning styles, developmental readiness and rates of achievement.

The middle school curriculum is California State Standards based, but teaches to the “most essential standards” focusing on a greater depth of learning and understanding. Subject matter instruction is integrated/articulated across the curriculum in all grades. An assigned classroom project can cover several subject areas.

Discovery seeks to instill genuine critical thinking skills that help students move toward greater independence and to novel and creative solutions to problems. Our instructional methods foster curiosity, problem-solving, and build critical thinking skills, that prepare students for life-long learning – preparing them for high school, college and beyond.

Curriculum Overview

Core curriculum (English Language Arts and Social Studies) are standards based, and articulated across the curriculum in all grades. Writing and Literature groups make for focused and differentiated instruction. English Language Arts has a strong emphasis on building writing skills and traits, and offers rich diversity of activities and resources.

Social Studies ties in closely with Language Arts and Science. Social Studies is hands-on, interactive, and experiential. Middle School Math is a successful college prep program that has traditional and developmental instruction. The Math program’s approach emphasizes both the discovery process, and develops strong computation skills.

Science is inquiry based, with labs, formal and small group instruction. Naturally Physical Education instruction is included for all middle schools students. Spanish instruction runs from kindergarten through 8th grade. At the Middle School level the focus is for the 8th grade student to complete the year at a high school “Spanish 1” level.

All curriculum is designed for basic skill development, applied cross the curriculum and project based. As is traditional with all our grade levels – relevant learning experiences are important extensions of each field of study, and come in the form of field trips.

Program Offerings

Selectives
Discovery offers a wide variety of classes for the middle school students. The offerings are based on a core set of classes that are important for educational development, while still offering a wide variety of other interest options for the students. The classes are “selectives” because the offerings are based on the skill sets of the teachers, parents (professional or hobbyist) and the requests and interests of the students. Offerings have included the following, but in no way are limited to:

Advisory – All students participate in morning advisory groups. Trained parents and teachers serve as mentors for small groups of students to help monitor each student’s goals, solve problems, discuss relevant issues, and  support one another in their study skills.

Student Government – All of our class levels (Kindergarten through Eighth grade) participate in student government. Our middle school students are elected to key positions such as President, Vice President, and School Board Representative. Each (K-8) class has representation giving the students a voice in their school and an opportunity to effect change. All of our 6, 7, & 8th graders are expected to take leadership roles within the Discovery School community and serve as mentors and friends to the younger students.

After School Sports – Every student wishing to participate in the after school sports program may do so. Every student makes the team. Naturally this does not make Discovery Charter School an athletic powerhouse. What it does is give students who would naturally not try-out for a team the safety to do so, teaches teamwork and sportsmanship without pressure. Current teams include: Boys Basketball & Soccer, Girls Basketball & Soccer, and Track and Field for all.