Kindergarten Readiness (KR) is a year of social growth and academic preparedness for students who will enter kindergarten the following school year. KR is a full-day program led by a credentialed Lead Teacher and a Teaching Assistant. In addition to the academic experience, kindergarten students also work with specialist teachers and have weekly classes in art, music, physical education, technology, and Spanish. 

As family partnership is key to a St. Patrick’s experience, parents and family members have many opportunities to volunteer in the classroom, specialist classes, or on field trips.

Service Leadership Theme: Caring for others

Community Partner: Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation

Kindergarten is a place where the joy of learning and natural inquisitiveness of young children is combined with the acquisition and refinement of desired academic skills. The kindergarten year at St. Patrick’s provides an extraordinary and wondrous learning experience for a five year old.

One of our primary goals is to create a safe and rich learning environment for all kindergarten students.  Children do their best learning when they feel safe, cared for, and part of a family.  A child’s social and emotional growth is as important to us as his or her academic success.

The St. Patrick’s kindergarten is a full-day program. A credentialed teacher, supported by a teaching assistant, plans and coordinates the core learning activities—reading, language arts, math, social studies, and science.

In addition to the academic experience, kindergarten students also work with the specialist teachers and have weekly classes in art, music, physical education, computer, and Spanish.  These enrichment classes supplement and are often coordinated with the academic skills and content introduced in the homeroom setting.

Another important component of a successful kindergarten year is a partnership with parents. We ask parents to work with us as a team to ensure the best possible kindergarten experience for each child. Parents have many opportunities to volunteer in kindergarten activities and on field trips.

Service Leadership Theme: Supporting our community

Community Partner: Senior Concerns Center of Thousand Oaks and St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School (Lost & Found)

Language Arts

First grade students learn to apply phonics and sight word strategies as they read a variety of literature from fiction to non-fiction, poetry, folk tales, fantasy, and drama. Students learn to recognize and use correct word order in spoken and written sentences, in journal writing, creative writing, letter writing, and in response to directed questions.

Reading comprehension skills include sequencing, summarizing, finding the main idea, cause and effect, setting, character development, plot, compare and contrast, predicting outcomes, identifying the theme and drawing conclusions.

Grammar is an important component of the Language Arts program covering topics such as capitalization, punctuation, identifying nouns, adjectives, verbs, compound words, pronouns, and plural words.

In spelling, students review consonant and vowel sounds, initial blends, final consonants, diagraphs, and diphthongs. First grade students work in a separate vocabulary program and learn context clues, synonyms and antonyms, and prefixes and suffixes.

Penmanship is emphasized, as students learn to print legibly (manuscript style) and use proper spacing between letters, words, and sentences.

Mathematics

The first grade math curriculum has multiple goals.  First, we want our students to understand numbers, patterns and their relationships, and we spend time on mental math activities which are applied throughout their coursework.

Second, we want our students to be smart problem-solvers.  By looking at word problems, puzzles, and mathematical situations, students are taught to dissect and evaluate the information given, develop and use multiple strategies for solving, and then articulate the processes used both orally and in writing.

Third, we want our students to be competent mathematicians, and therefore, students learn their basic addition and subtraction math facts to twenty.  They learn to add and subtract one and two-digit numbers and to count by 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10s.  Students learn place value, how to read a calendar, tell time, and use money.

In addition, metric and standard measurement are taught and practiced.  Reading, analyzing, and creating graphs, both hand-drawn and computer generated, are also part of the year’s study.

Science

Several science units are studied in the first grade:

Healthy Choices – Students learn about the Food Pyramid and the importance of good nutrition, exercise, sleep, and proper hygiene.

Air and Weather – Students explore the properties of air; observe and use a thermometer to describe and record changes that occur in weather; students graph the changes in temperature, and understand how the sun warms the land, air, and water.

Solids and Liquids – Students observe and describe the properties of solids and liquids when they are mixed, cooled, and heated.

Plants and Animals – This unit heightens the students’ awareness of the different ways plants and animals meet their needs and survive. In this unit students also learn about different habitats.

Composting and Gardening – The first graders take care of our composting program on campus, and the maintain the school garden.  They learn how to prepare the soil, determine the amount of sunlight and water needed to successfully grow flowers and vegetables, harvest the garden and engage in weekly STEM lessons focused on botany and related topics.

Social Studies

The goal of the first grade social studies program is to develop social skills and responsibilities of citizenship. Students identify and learn about American symbols, landmarks, and national holidays. Map skills are taught as well as cardinal directions. Students learn to identify landmarks in the local community as well as the seven continents and four major oceans. In history, students look at the lives of earlier generations, their school, work, lifestyle, and forms of transportation.

Library Skills

Students learn to identify the parts of a book: spine, cover, title page, author, illustrator, table of contents, and glossary. They learn to distinguish between fiction and non-fiction materials. Through multiple visits to the public library, they learn about the role of the librarian, the different sections of the library, and how to use alphabetical order to find words in picture and beginning dictionaries.

Field Trips

Students enjoy a number of field trips during the year which include visits to Underwood Farms – Pumpkin Patch and Berry Picking, Interpretive Outreach Programs, Gardens of the World/Botanical Gardens, the Zoo, the Manna Food Bank, and a local grocery store.

Service Leadership Theme: Food Security

Community Partner: Manna Food Bank

Language Arts

The second grade St. Patrick’s Language Arts program strives for all students to achieve mastery in the following areas:

Word Analysis, Fluency and Vocabulary Development: This includes understanding the basic features of reading, selecting letter patterns, knowing how to translate them into spoken language by using phonics, syllabication and word parts, and applying this knowledge to achieve fluent oral and silent reading.

Reading Comprehension: This includes reading and understanding grade appropriate material, drawing upon a variety of comprehension strategies as needed (generating and responding to essential questions, making predictions, and comparing information from several sources.)

Literary Response and Analysis: This includes reading and responding to a wide variety of significant works in children’s literature, distinguishing between the structural features of the text, and understanding literary terms or elements (theme, plot, setting, characters.)

Mathematics

The math program at St. Patrick’s integrates mathematical reasoning and problem solving skills in the instruction of basic addition and subtraction facts. Math topics taught at second grade include the following.

Number Sense: Students come to understand the relationship between numbers, quantities, and place value in whole numbers to 1000; they learn to estimate, calculate, and solve problems involving addition and subtraction of two and three digit numbers; and they model and solve simple problems involving multiplication and division.

Algebra and Functions: Students practice writing number sentences to translate word problems into math equations, and they learn to use a variety of strategies to solve word problems.

Measurement and Geometry
• Time, Money, and Calendar Concepts
• Fractions and Decimals
• Statistics, Data Analysis, and Probability; Students will be able to collect numerical data to record, organize, display, and interpret the data on various types of graphs and charts.

Science

Social Studies

The second grade social studies curriculum focuses on People Who Make A Difference, how heroes from long ago and the present through their individual actions and character have made a difference in others’ lives. Other topics covered include geography and map skills, the concept of government and major institutions in the United States, and developing a basic understanding of economics with an emphasis on how food gets from farm to market and the role of consumers.

Listening and Speaking

This includes listening critically and responding appropriately to oral communication, speaking in a manner that guides the listener to understand important ideas by using proper phrasing, pitch, and modulation, delivering recitations and oral presentations, and demonstrating a command of standard American English.

Language Arts
In addition to basic phonics, word recognition skills, oral reading with expression, and understanding words in context, numerous reading skills are taught through a variety of literary genres.

Skill development in third grade encompasses reading comprehension, summarizing ideas, drawing conclusions, predicting outcomes, sequencing events, and listening critically.  The Reading Street Anthology is combined with individual novel studies that include, My Father’s Dragon, Stone Fox, The Whipping Boy, The Wish Giver, and James and the Giant Peach. Vocabulary is taught through a program called Wordly Wise.

The parts of speech, the rules of capitalization and punctuation, and proper usage are emphasized in grammar. Students practice writing complete sentences with dependent and independent clauses, strong paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting ideas, letters, stories, and summary book reports.

Cursive Handwriting
Students in third grade are taught cursive handwriting and are expected to use it in all their written work the second half of the year.

Mathematics
The third grade year begins with a review of addition and subtraction facts and then moves on to mastery of multiplication and division facts. Number sense and place value of whole numbers are also reviewed.

Algebraic concepts such as using symbols, writing equations and choosing the correct operations to solve them, and using arithmetic properties to represent, describe, simplify and solve problems are taught.

In addition, students learn to understand the relationship between whole numbers, simple fractions, and decimals. They learn to select and use appropriate units and measurement tools, describe and compare plane and solid geometric figures, conduct simple probability experiments, and read, interpret, and draw different types of graphs.

The math curriculum also includes lessons on time, money, and measurement. Reasoning strategies and problem solving skills are taught throughout the year.

Science
The third grade science curriculum is broken down into three main areas: Earth Science, Life Science, and Physical Science.

In Life Science, students become familiar with the food pyramid, how organisms are affected by their environment, environmental problems and solutions, the evolution of plants and animals, and marine science.

In Earth Science, students study the Sun, Moon, and Stars, and how objects in the sky move in regular and predictable patterns.

In Physical Science students learn about sources of energy, states of matter, atoms and molecules, and how light is reflected. Third grade students use the scientific method to ask meaningful questions, conduct investigations, and draw conclusions based on evidence.

Social Studies
Our social studies curriculum guides students to develop skills in critical thinking, good study habits, map reading, values, and interpreting non-fiction information. The aim is to have students become informed, active, caring, decision makers.

Students study the three main geographic regions of the United States, different Native American tribes that live in these regions, the early settlers on the east coast, and the pioneers who went west.

Public Speaking
Students have many opportunities to practice their public speaking skills through oral presentations on a variety of topics, book reports, and in memorizing and reciting poems.

Field Trips
There are several field trips planned during the year. In the past these have included visits to the Thousand Oaks Public Library, the Griffith Park Observatory, the Long Beach Aquarium, the Santa Barbara Museum, the Getty Museum, Heal the Bay Beach Program, Interpretive Outreach programs, and the Southwest Museum.

Service Leadership Theme: Water Conservation

Community Partner: The Water Project

Language Arts
We use the comprehensive Language Arts program by Pearson which covers reading, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and writing. Students are exposed to a variety of genres: non-fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, biography, classics, and mysteries. In addition, reading skills, phonics, and literary analysis are taught through the class novels, Island of the Blue Dolphin, By the Great Horn Spoon, Sarah, Plain and Tall, Blue Willow, and Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Fourth grade students work on developing their expository writing skills through paragraphs and essays which compare/contrast, summarize the main idea, work with similes and metaphors, and analyze point of view.

Mathematics
The Sadlier Math series emphasizes place value, fact families, number sense, multiplication by two and three digits, division by two or more digits, fractions, decimals, reading graphs and graphing, geometry, measurement, elapsed time, probability, and word problems.

Science
Our fourth grade science curriculum includes Earth Science topics such as geology, weathering, and rocks/minerals, Physical Science topics such as magnetism, electricity, and simple machines, and Life Science topics such as ecosystems, biomes, the food chain, adaptations and survival. Through our Foss Science program students also use the scientific method to conduct experiments, interpret and analyze data, and formulate conclusions.

Social Studies
The study of California history and geography is the primary focus of the fourth grade social studies curriculum. Students begin their study with the geography and geology of California; they learn about the California Indians and the first explorers; students learn about the Mission Period and Ranchos as well as the Westward Movement, the Gold Rush, emergence into Statehood, the development of the Transcontinental Railroad, Farming and Agriculture, the rise of Industry, Dust Bowl Migration, New Immigrants, and the Future of California.

Special Projects & Field Trips
Each student uses his/her writing skills to research and write a report on life during the Mission period with a particular emphasis on one of the many California Missions. In the spring, students research a scientist’s life and contributions and then give a first-person presentation in costume to family and friends. As enrichment, students attend a number of field trips which include the Buenaventura Mission, Olivas Adobe, La Purisma Mission, Stagecoach Inn, an Avocado Plant, and Olvera Street. Two programs, “Rock and Roll Geology” and “Watt is Electricity”, are an important part of the fourth grade science program.

Service Leadership Theme: Helping the Unhoused

Community Partner: Harbor House

Language Arts
The comprehensive Language Arts program by Reading Street covers reading, grammar, spelling, vocabulary and writing. Students are assessed weekly on comprehension, vocabulary, spelling and specific reading skills (sequence, cause and effect, plot, setting, character, author’s purpose, etc.). Reading skills are supplemented by six novel studies. Students learn the writing process, six traits of writing and the eight parts of speech. Writing assignments throughout the year include personal narratives, descriptive narratives, poetry, response to literature, comparison/contrast, research reports and persuasive arguments. Students also write daily on various topics in their reading logs and complete daily oral language exercises.

Mathematics
Students apply their knowledge of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to fractions, decimals and integers. Our textbook blends mathematical skills and concepts development, with an emphasis on problem solving and mathematical reasoning. Specific units of study include number sense, place value, decimals and fractions, ratios, percent, algebra, measurement, geometry, statistics, and probability.

Science

We use the FOSS Science program which combines information with hands-on science activities and experiments that utilize the scientific method.  Our units of study address the following topics and concepts:

• The Solar System
• Body Systems
• The Nature of Matter
• Water on Earth

Each fall, students attend a three day outdoor science program as an experiential component of their science learning. Students have an opportunity to work on STEM challenges, climb rock walls and ropes courses, and learn about

Social Studies
Students study United States History and Geography up to 1850. Houghton-Mifflin is the primary text and units covered include the following: Exploring and Settling America-Tracing the routes of early explorers; Life in the English Colonies-Colonial America; The Struggle for Independence-Revolutionary War, the formation of democracy, and the United States Constitution; and Life in a Growing Nation-Westward Expansion. Students also learn the location of the fifty states and their capitals. Throughout the year, students prepare an explorer report, perform in “The Thirteen Colonies” play, create models, and research and write a state report. Historical fiction is used in combination with the textbook to integrate Social Studies and Literature.

Leadership
Fifth graders are given opportunities to lead on campus. Weekly, they assume various leadership roles in assembly and chapel. Fifth grade students also act as “buddies” to the kindergarten students and share a number of activities and events together throughout the year.

Field Trips
There are several field trips that enhance the fifth grade course of study. Such locations visited may include:
• Science Discovery Center
• Ronald Reagan Library
• Getty Museum

Service Leadership Theme: Our Nation

Community Partner: For The Troops

Our 6th Grade program at St. Patrick’s is incredibly unique. We can say with the utmost confidence that your child’s sixth grade year at St. Patrick’s will be a time to cultivate growth, learning, and leadership that will prepare them for the rest of their educational career in middle school, high school, and university. As a leader at the school, Middle School students at St. Patrick’s have opportunities that sixth graders at a school with a High School program simply do not have. All of this is achieved while simultaneously giving your child one more year of the freedom and playful joy of KR through eighth grade campus. Sixth grade at St. Patrick’s is life changing and life shaping.

Literature and Language Arts
The language arts curriculum includes basic reading skills taught through the reading of short stories as well as literary analysis through the reading of class novels. In addition, there is a strong grammar component to the course that reinforces the parts of speech, proper usage and grammar rules. Sixth graders have weekly spelling and vocabulary lists through which they learn spelling rules, Greek and Latin roots, recognizing meaning through context, and how to incorporate these words into their writing.

Expository Writing
The sixth graders work on developing their skills in the writing of different types of essays such as the narrative, the descriptive, and the persuasive essay, and how to answer an essay question on a test. In addition, they continue to develop their understanding of the structure of language, tools of expression, and forms of written communication in all subject areas.

Mathematics

This is a pre-algebra course that begins with a review of basic skills, fractions, and decimals. Students are taught problem-solving strategies through algebraic concepts and methods. Topics include ratio and proportion, percents, statistics, basic geometry, integers, exponents and square roots, coordinate graphing and measurement in metric and standard systems.

Science

The sixth grade science program focuses on the earth science topics of environmental science, traditional and alternative energy sources, soil and landforms, plate tectonics, volcanoes, and earthquakes. The methodology used in this program is based on hands-on activities and discovery-based lessons that utilize the scientific method. Each fall the sixth grade students participate in an outdoor education trip that parallels the earth science curriculum.

Social Studies
The sixth grade social studies program includes world geography and map skills, the history of ancient cultures, and a basic introduction to economics, political systems, the development of tools and technology and the beginning of world religions. These concepts are covered through a chronological approach to history, beginning with prehistoric peoples to the Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.  At the end of the year, the students write and produce a play based on their study of Greek mythology.

Study Skills

Integrated into all areas of the sixth graders’ experience is learning and using a variety of study skills such as note-taking, time management, organizational techniques, test taking skills, reading context clues, analogies, outlining and using technology as an effective learning and study tool.

Physical Education and Recreational Sports

In addition to their regularly scheduled Physical Education classes with Coach Russel, our sixth graders are also exposed to recreational activities such as archery, bowling and yoga.  This is an incredible experience for the students as they get to try out new hobbies and games and hone their skills.

Leadership

An important part of the sixth grade program is the development of leadership as a personal quality. The sixth graders are given various duties, positions and projects at the school that  allow them to learn and practice the attributes necessary to lead effectively through action and words. Public speaking is a key component of our leadership training.

Outdoor Education
One of the many exciting learning opportunities planned for the sixth grade class this year is a three-day outdoor education program facilitated by the Wilderness Outdoor Leadership Foundation. The program is held on Santa Cruz Island and is designed to integrate the science and social studies lessons learned in the classroom with hands-on activities and explorations in an outdoor environment. Part of the sixth grade science program is the study of ecosystems and habitats and specifically the historical and environmental changes that have taken place on Santa Cruz Island over the last one hundred years. Students see and experience firsthand the content of their studies. In addition, sixth graders are challenged to develop independence, confidence, and interpersonal and leadership skills through a series of guided activities. It is a memorable bonding experience for all.

Service Leadership Theme: Our Local Community

Community Partner: Mad Attic Thrift Store

In 2024-25 we will expand to seventh grade and add eighth grade the following year. The Class of 2026 will be our the first class to graduate eighth grade from St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School.