Curriculum Enhancements
Frog Street Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum
SJHA Pre-K is very excited to introduce the Frog Street Curriculum. This engaging interactive curriculum program celebrates the joy of learning while children travel down the road to success. Some of the learning activities will be socialization and communication skills. Academic skills will focus on Math, Phonics, Early Literacy, and Religion. We will have Creative Arts, Music and Movement activities. Children will participate in group projects, discussions, and many learning games.
We will have practice activities in centers. We also learn the alphabet, the sounds, and the numbers through various types of experiences and the Letter People Preschool Program. Most importantly the children will learn to socialize and be a part of the group. They will learn to take turns, and share and work cooperatively together.
Early Literacy Team
As educators we are dedicated to the continued exploration of innovative teaching modalities to help inform our pedagogy in the humanities and literacy curricular. Students are offered the opportunity to read, write and explore various genres of literature to foster a love of reading and draw connections between subject and content areas. Recognizing that students in grades K to 3 are learning to read while students in grades 4 and above are reading to learn, faculty participate in a variety of professional development opportunities that promote phonetic awareness and continue to develop reading and writing across the curricula. These programs will aid in providing differentiated instruction for students at all levels of learning
Academic Social Emotional Support
At St. Joseph Hill Academy, we are proud of our strong academic standards—and we believe that recognizing and supporting the unique needs of each student is key to helping them thrive.
Our teachers use a variety of strategies to encourage growth, including small-group lessons, one-on-one instruction, and blended learning opportunities that combine traditional teaching with technology.
To support this work, our dedicated faculty partner with instructional coaches from Educate LLC, FACTS, and Catapult. These coaches provide resources and guidance that help teachers strengthen math fluency, deepen ELA skills, and bring more blended learning into the classroom.
In addition, Catapult Instructional Specialists and independent service providers work with students through small-group or individual sessions—both inside and outside the classroom—to reinforce concepts and build strong academic foundations.
Writers' Workshop
SJHA's Junior High Writers' Workshop is designed to assist students become confident and capable writers in Grades 4-7. During the Writers' Workshop, they have the opportunity to work independently and with their classmates. Students actively engage in the writing process, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing their work. With Ms. McPolin, the Writers’ Workshop is focused on developing active critical thinking, reading and writing skills. Students will learn the importance of annotating, close reading, and summarizing to enhance their ability to read and break down complex information. They will also apply the knowledge and skills they acquire through this process to their own writing.
Students will prepare both fiction and nonfiction pieces, completing a variety of assignments from creative writing to research papers. Our focus will be on sensory details, expansion of vocabulary, transition words and phrases, reinforcement of English conventions, and clear organization of ideas and arguments.
Our Hill students have so many wonderful ideas, and we hope that this class will help them to express these ideas more effectively in their writing. Writers’ Workshop grades are part of a student's English Language Arts (ELA) grade.
Spanish Language Instruction Grades Pre-K 3 to 8
Public Speaking Course
Algebra 1 Regents Courses
STEM Classes for Pre-K 3 to 5th Grade and NGSS
Following mostly Project Lead the Way Launch curriculum, the STEM lessons are providing a foundation for students to develop problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and foster their innate curiosity. They are being exposed to basic concepts in science and engineering and learning through hands-on activities. Ms. Maresca's lessons involve mostly collaborative projects that promote teamwork. It's also a great way for students to develop creativity and, clearly, has real-world relevance. Academically, it also prepares students for our Junior High's rigorous PLTW Gateway Program.
SJHA adopted hands-on Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for our K-8. The NGSS have three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science: crosscutting concepts, science and engineering practices, and disciplinary core ideas. They were developed to give educators the flexibility to design classroom learning experiences that stimulate students’ interests in science and prepare them for college, careers, and citizenship.
Our hands-on STEM programs align NGSS to our award-winning PLTW curriculum.