Elementary School at BVP

At BVP, we believe college begins in kindergarten. So, from the very beginning of their journey, scholars learn about the colleges and universities that their teachers attended. They take field trips to college campuses and are taught to take great pride in the colleges that their classrooms are named after.

In every BVP elementary school classroom, scholars have the opportunity to work in small groups with their teachers, with their whole class, and independently throughout their day. These various opportunities teach our scholars to collaborate as well as develop their own independent skills.

In early primary grades (K-­2), we focus heavily on literacy, numeracy, technology, and inquiry-based science. We also build in an hour of enrichment (art, music, or physical education) daily. Our teachers use the Wilson Fundations curriculum to focus on phonics, word study, and handwriting. In these grades, scholars also begin laying the foundation for comprehending texts through daily exposure to rich and diverse literature. In upper primary grades (3-­4), scholar schedules include informational texts inclusive of world history and current events. Additionally, every upper primary scholar has the opportunity to learn an instrument.

Time is not a commodity at BVP; time is golden. We have a longer day, a longer year, and we tap into Saturdays and school breaks when scholars require extra support.

There’s no time to waste, and that is perhaps one of our most deeply held beliefs.

So where does all this time go?

While exact minutes per week vary based on grade level, elementary school scholars can expect approximately:

• 120 minutes of Fundations
• 300 minutes of Guided/Small Group Reading
• 300 minutes of English Language Arts, plus 120 minutes of ELA Conferencing, grounded in textual analysis, author’s craft writing, and word study
• 300 minutes of Mathematics, focused on fluency, concept review, and new content
• 120 minutes of Modeling and Application, focused on solving real-world, multi-part problems
• 210 minutes of Science and Technology, with the balance of time devoted to inquiry; in other words, being a scientist
• 300 minutes of Enrichment
• Plus community time, lunch, and recess

Even with all of this time, we continue to see scholars who need more support. We also see scholars who can be pushed to truly phenomenal heights, and we want that time with them, as well.

We want to spend more time analyzing text at deeper levels, supporting writers to better articulate their ideas, offering opportunities to invent new pathways to solving mathematical problems, and further exploring our scientific experiments.

We believe in capitalizing on every single moment with scholars and extending the learning after the school day ends. Homework assignments focus on fundamental practice, including 30 minutes of reading each night and addition/subtraction review. Although this isn’t the type of homework that can be handed in, it is nonetheless extremely important for scholar achievement.

Learn More

1. Explore
   a day in the life of a kindergarten scholar.

   Sample Elementary Scholar's Schedule

   
   

   Time	Activity/Subject
   8:00-8:10	Arrival & Breakfast
   8:10-8:30	Community Circle
   8:30-9:30	Mathematics
   9:30-10:20	Enrichment (Art, Music, or P.E.)
   10:20-11:20	Guided/Small Group Reading
   11:20-11:45	Lunch
   11:45-12:45	English Language Arts
   12:45-1:10	Recess
   1:10-1:40	Math Stories/Problem Solving
   1:40-2:10	Science
   2:10-2:40	Fundations
   2:40-3:10	ELA Conferencing

   Close
2. Learn about our school leadership.
3. Contact us for location and other general information.