Academic Excellence

Art
Art introduces children to a variety of mediums and styles as well as artists and time periods. Children use crayons, watercolors, and markers to create two-dimensional art. Three-dimensional projects are done with clay and wood. Art is related to themes and subject covered in academic classes, as children immerse themselves in creative projects involving different cultures and mimicry of celebrated arts through history.

Music
Music combines instrumental and vocal experiences to promote creative expression. Children sing and move to rhythmic movements. They listen to music to learn how to read music and identify notes. In the older grades of the Lower School, children learn about different composers, periods of music, and musical elements, like tempo and meter. At least once a year, all children perform in front of an audience to perform vocal compositions or instrumental accompaniment.

Foreign Language
Foreign Language instruction begins in Pilot Class with either French or Spanish. The curriculum is designed to awaken a child's curiosity and interest in a new language, while providing a solid foundation for further study in Middle School. Children begin with greetings, numbers, colors, and body parts. They learn by playing games, listening to stories, and singing songs in a different language. Speaking and listening continues to be emphasized in later study focused on weather, food, shapes, and adjectives. At the oldest grade levels in the Lower School, children are introduced to grammar and write sentences and essays about themselves. They also put on skits and plays in a different language that communicate a basic understanding of a different culture and people.

Physical Education
Physical Education provides all children, beginning in Pilot Class, with multiple opportunities for physical, mental, emotional, and social growth through active games and structured play. Children learn skills at an age-appropriate pace and gain knowledge about their own physical development. Teachers focus on developing an appreciation for physical activity that will lead to lifetime health and wellness. Experiences in team and individual sports, as well as movement and rhythms, are designed to help students gain skills and develop positive attitudes towards exercise, sport, and their physical abilities.

Science
Children at Calvert begin formal science instruction in Sixth Age with an exploration of the five senses, weather, animals, and plants. Science instruction is intended to give children hands-on experiences with everyday materials, familiarizing them with the world around them. Field trips, nature walks, and lab-like activities allow a child's natural curiosity to develop. Children learn about the water cycle, heat, sound, light, matter, forces and energy, rocks, climate, and pushes and pulls. The newly renovated Luetkemeyer Planetarium on campus provides children with an exciting way to examine the sky, planets, and the universe. Calvert's science program encourages children to ask and answer questions, build factual knowledge, and theorize for further examination.

Technology
Students from Sixth Age through Tenth Age attend technology class for 30 minutes each week. Our Sixth and Seventh Age students use desktop computers, and our Eighth through Tenth Age students use laptops stored on mobile carts that can be transported from the computer lap to other classrooms to enhance instruction in other subject areas. Technology skills are taught through a series of interactive projects and activities. Often times these align with topics covered in other classes. Students also learn how to use digital cameras, video equipment, and SmartBoards. Cyber safety, cyber bullying, responsible computer use, desktop publishing, visual mapping, keyboarding skills, and multi-media production are introduced at age-appropriate levels.

Library
The Lower School Library has a collection of more than 17,000 items, including fiction, non-fiction, periodicals, videos, and DVD's for students and their teachers. All classes from Pilot to Tenth Age have a library lesson once a week, where students listen to stories, browse and check-out books, and receive instruction in information-seeking skills. The library curriculum is developmentally appropriate for each grade level, complementing lessons in socials studies, language arts, math, and science. With each lesson, the librarian focuses on developing a love for books and life-long learning in each child, encouraging students to visit the library for school work and personal exploration.

Assessment
At Calvert, students receive formal grades and a report card each month. Report cards are sent home with folders, monthly compilations of student work that has been reviewed carefully by an administrator.