Upper Elementary

Upper Elementary Overview

Lower school is the place students begin their academic journey and serves as the foundation for Central Private’s college-preparatory program. During these formative years, we focus on developing the whole child spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, socially, and physically. Our goal for lower school is to inspire students in the development of Christ-like character and to be academically equipped to advance to upper school as a confident, responsible, and prepared student.

Our students begin each day honoring Christ through prayer and scripture reading, honoring their country by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and honoring others by reciting the Redhawk Way and character traits.

Instruction and Curriculum:
Our teaching staff uses a variety of teaching strategies that give our students a solid academic foundation and many opportunities for classroom participation. All subjects are taught from a Christian perspective. Our Upper Elementary curriculum has a strong academic focus using both the Abeka curriculum, Wonders reading series, and novel studies. Abeka is used as our primary resource to develop traditional, foundational academic skills and other resources are incorporated as well to enhance the development of critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills. The Wonders reading series is utilized in 2nd and 3rd grade to enhance reading comprehension skills and build vocabulary skills. We begin to incorporate novel studies in 3rd grade to prepare the students for 4th grade as novels are the primary resource for reading instruction in our 4th and 5th grade classes. Upper Elementary students also complete supplemental programs such as Accelerated Reader and Literary Fair in order to provide more opportunities for hands-on learning.
All students participate in hands-on and literacy building activities, enjoy daily recess, have access to Chromebooks and tablets, have field trip and campus visitor experiences, and participate in music programs, enrichment showcases, and field day as well as other activities our teachers may create.

Classroom Style: 2nd and 3rd grade are taught in self-contained classrooms with one teacher in each room, while 4th and 5th grade are departmentalized switching between four teachers for core subjects. Students will also attend daily enrichment classes. All Upper Elementary students are assigned lockers for their personal belongings.
 

Enrichment: Once a day, each classroom will travel to one of our rotating “enrichment” classes. These electives are intended to supplement the traditional core curriculum with new and fun learning experiences. Upper Elementary will visit Technology, Music, P.E., Library, and Art once a week.
 

Lunch: All Upper Elementary students travel to the cafeteria for lunch. Students may bring lunch from home or preorder a lunch option. Upper Elementary students usually have a “hot lunch”, sandwich, and salad option on the cafeteria menu. 4th and 5th grade students will be allowed to select additional lunch line options with parental permission. More information regarding lunch can be found in the Parent Resources portion of the website.

Standardized Testing: Students in grades 3-5 are tested each spring using the Stanford Achievement Test 10, which compares our students with students on a national basis. CPS students consistently score 1-3 grade levels above their national median grade level.