Kindergarten: Building the Foundations
for Learning
Sunset Mesa offers a full day program for kindergarten. This
enriched experience
provides students with a strong foundation
in phonics and early literacy. Our math program uses patterning
and hands-on
activities to develop strong numeration skills
at an early age. Communication is an important aspect of
our partnership with parents. Each child's progress is reported
to parents three times per year. Parent-Teacher conferences
are scheduled at the end of the first and third reporting
periods and an interim mid-report is sent to call attention to any particular
concerns and review progress.
Prefirst: A Gift of Time
Sunset Mesa offers a unique
Prefirst Program to ten students each year to give them extra time to mature
before entering the first grade. This exclusive class emphasizes personal attention
and a solidification of foundational skills in a nurturing, self-paced environment.
This extra year can benefit certain children beyond measure as they "come
into their own" in our Prefirst program.
Grades 1 - 5
The emphasis in grades 1-5 is to develop a strong foundation
in reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies
while producing critical thinkers and creative problem solvers.
Visiting Sunset Mesa, you may observe a first grade class using
manipulatives to eagerly explore math concepts or visit an outdoor
garden created by third graders as they compare and contrast biomes. You might
even be invited to a medieval feast created by fourth graders as they learn about
the literary devices used to write historical fiction. Embracing Howard Gardner's
theory of Multiple Intelligences, teachers at Sunset Mesa implement a variety
of instructional strategies to support student learning styles. Regular parent-school
communication and teamwork is a unique facet of Sunset Mesa schooling. Quarterly
grading periods and yearly spring testing using the Stanford Achievement Test
demonstrate each child's progress. Interpretation of these scores with parents
continues our tradition of parents as partners. For more about Sunset Mesa's
educational environment, see Enrichment Programs and SMS Extras.
