Curriculum

Our team believes that inspiring and igniting a child’s love for learning leads to future academic and life-long success. Our spiraled liberal arts and sciences curriculum is designed to utilize children's curiosity, energy, and ability to take it to the next level. We believe that education must be expertly led by thoughtful, creative, and passionate teachers. Our educators create a learning environment where coming to school is a joyful and rewarding experience, and one that purposely maintains the integrity of each child’s imagination and curiosity. From preschool to senior year, our academic program consists of six sections: the Early Years, the Primary Years, the Bridge Years, the Intermediate Years, the High School Years, and the Maturita Preparatory Year.

THE EARLY YEARS
Preschool

DISCOVERY & FOUNDATION: Preschool and Kindergarten are both taught in self-contained classrooms. Each classroom has an assigned Lead Teacher and a Teaching Fellow. Our teachers facilitate opportunities for children to interact with materials in a thoughtful and intentional manner, encourage them to use their imagination and creativity to ask questions and learn from the world around them. These years begin to lay the foundation for success in school. This success is based not only on the acquisition of foundational concepts but also on adopting scholarly habits and immersion in a culture that values learning above all other endeavors. Our Early Education Specialists primarily speak English and the Early Education Teachers are able to assist students in both English and Czech. (more about our preschool program)

THE PRIMARY YEARS
Grades 0–3

TEACHING TO LEARN: A content-rich curriculum and hands-on experiences create scenarios for students to acquire knowledge that contributes to their English language fluency. In Grade 0, our students are no longer in a self-contained classroom. Rather, a Subject Expert Teacher (SET) who specializes in one of the  disciplines (Math and Science, English Humanities, Engineering, Fine Arts, Czech Humanities, etc.) teaches the students in a subject classroom. Across all courses, a Lead Teacher (LET) co-teaches with the SET. The Lead Teacher's role is to make sure that students understand the material and that every student is working to the absolute best of their ability. Lead Teacher focuses on pedagogy and travels with the students from class to class as they rotate from subject to subject. Thus, the Lead Teacher takes on the role of both the SET and LET, depending on the course. The synergy of the SET and LET facilitates a relatively rapid transition from instruction in foundational skills and knowledge to independent thinking and active learning in the primary grades. 

THE BRIDGE YEARS
Grades 4–5

FROM CONCRETE TO ABSTRACT THINKING: In Grades 4 and 5, our students are taught exclusively by SETs, many of whom have advanced degrees in the field they teach. The model builds on the skills from the Primary Years and allows students to acquire independence and increased responsibility for their education. The Bridge Years also transport students from the foundations to an intermediate program focused on mastering basics for our college-preparatory curriculum. In particular, instruction focuses on attaching abstract thinking to concrete lessons: students transition from comprehension to interpretation, from data collection to analysis, and from mathematical calculation to mathematical reasoning. Courses unique to the Bridge Years include Latin, Classics, and Physical Geography.

THE INTERMEDIATE YEARS
Grades 6–8

KNOWLEDGE AS A TOOL: During these years, our students complete a rigorous schedule of pre-Advanced Placement (AP) courses in all core disciplines, including the three sciences (Biology, Chemistry, and Physics), Economics, and Logic. In these Intermediate Years, our students come to understand knowledge as a tool. The spiraling curriculum allows them to master challenging topics in the sciences by revisiting them each year as their mathematical reasoning skills become more sophisticated. They learn that amassing skills and facts is a step toward the more creative thinking required of the college-level coursework they will tackle in high school.

THE HIGH SCHOOL YEARS
Grades 9–12

THINKING FOR PROBLEM-SOLVING: The High School curriculum leverages the students’ experience with core courses to build proficiency toward success in the Advanced Placement (AP) courses in high school. After mastering the prerequisite AP content, students continue developing their ability to think independently and creatively, and conduct scientific research in post-AP courses and independent research projects. In grade 12, students take courses that are structured like university seminars called Capstone Courses. These courses often explore advanced topics that rely on students’ mastery of the curriculum in prior years. The senior year is a “dress rehearsal” for college and the Senior Project is the demonstration of students’ ability to prove that they are ready.

THE MATURITA PREAPARATORY YEAR
Grade 13

While students are eligible to graduate at the end of Grade 12 having completed our curriculum, those who wish to gain admission to Czech universities may choose to focus their studies toward the Maturita exams in Grade 13. In this grade, students will prepare exclusively for the mandatory exams as well as the optional exams of their choice. The exams for the mandatory subjects are standardized and set by CERMAT.