English Language Arts Tab 

https://sites.google.com/nps.k12.nj.us/curriculum-resources/english-language-arts?authuser=0 

ELA is a way of communication through reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing.  These are means through which our scholars are able to receive information, think logically, and express their ideas through both verbal and non-verbal communications.  ELA will also teach our students how to formulate and answer questions; search for, organize, evaluate and apply information.

Not only is English Language Arts a way to acquire knowledge for thinking and communicating, it is also a process for constructing meaning through the use of prior knowledge and understanding.  The ELA standard teaches our learners to engage in texts and conversations that are rich in ideas and complex patterns of language.

Finally, our scholars will achieve mastery in ELA not by adding skills one-by-one to their repertoire, but rather by using and exploring language in its many dimensions.  Through the Language Arts, students develop the skills they will carry with them into adulthood as contributing members of society.

Illustrative Math

Louise A. Spencer will be teaching a new math curriculum for grades K-8 called Illustrative Math.  The vision for mathematics on Newark Public Schools requires: 

• Rigorous standards driven mathematics curricula
• Dedicated and knowledgeable teachers who can integrate instruction with assessment
• Policies that enhance and support learning
• Classrooms with access to technology
• Commitment to both equity and excellence  

Science 

The Newark Public Schools biggest goal is to provide a foundation in science that will serve our students through his/her lifetime.  Students will participate in research based activities, and will develop the skills to observe, question, infer, experiment, calculate, analyze, and evaluate.  These processes will expand and enhance our students' natural curiosity about the world in which they live and enable them to gain knowledge.

Newark Office of Science Education wants to raise the level of science literacy by providing the additional services below for all of our students, teachers, administrators, parents, and community.

• Workshops
• Seminars
• Science activity centers
• Laboratories
• Science clubs

Curriculums that will be used for PreK-8 are:

• Inspire Science- Grades PreK- 5
• IGWST (Investigating and Questioning our World through Science and Technology)- Grades 6-8
• Students 2 Science Virtual Laboratory- Grades K-12

Social Studies

A major effort continues throughout Newark Public Schools to create a vision in the Social Studies Program that fosters, for all students, the ability to understand the World and appreciate the heritage of America with a high degree of literacy in:

• Civics
• History
• Economics
• Geography

Students will participate in activities that enhance the common good and increase the general welfare.  They will also acquire and understand World History as the context for United States History and as a record of the great civilizations and cultures of the past and present.  At Louise A. Spencer we will introduce basic literacy in the core disciplines of Social Studies and teach basic understandings needed to apply knowledge to our scholars lives as citizens.

Health

Our health program provides students with a defined focus on health and well-being, and also addresses ten priority areas of health education including:

• Mental and Emotional Health
• Safety and First Aid
• Personal Health
• Exercise and Fitness
• Growth and Development
• Family and Social Health
• Nutrition and Consumer Health
• Diseases and Disorders
• Community Environmental Health
• Alcohol, Tobacco, and other drugs

Physical Education

Physical Education focuses on the following eight areas of instructional skills and activities: Health-Related Fitness/Wellness, Sports Skills, Body Mechanics, Stunts and Tumbling, Dance, Basic Movement Skills/Coordination, Adapted Physical Education and Aquatics. The incorporation of a well designed, sequential program will contribute extensively to the physical, mental, emotional and social development of all students in grades PreK-8. The students will also be empowered to choose physical activities which promote and support a healthy lifestyle of nutrition and weight management, and to maintain a lifetime of wellness and successful living.

World Language- Spanish/Español 

Our main objective of World Language is to obtain a degree of proficiency in the specific language, and to help each child attain an acceptable degree of proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing the language in an informal and relaxed environment and to introduce our children to the cultures of where the Spanish language came from.