About NOCCS: Curriculum

Teaching and Learning at NOCCS

Planning and teaching rigorous and purposeful learning units, assessing their effectiveness and the quality of student work, and revising and improving them is the cornerstone of curriculum and instruction at NOCCS. Learning units culminate in projects and performances that take students outside of school to gather information and data, bring the outside world into the classroom, and engage students in real-world investigations. Assessment is woven throughout each learning unit, pushing students to higher levels of performance in pursuit of academic excellence. NOCCS promotes a strong culture of best effort, high expectations, and high quality work.

Teaching and learning at NOCCS focus on the following:

Developing mastery of language and literacy. Reading, writing, listening and speaking are primary tools for learning throughout the curriculum.

Investigative learning that builds skills through hands-on-experience while creating an understanding, confidence, and appreciation for literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, and the arts.

Facilitating an awareness and respect for similarities and differences among members of the school community. Active practice in peacemaking skills and inter-personal communication skills. Helping children address and further develop social and emotional skills is a formally organized part of our regular program.

Although our curriculum is guided by the California state standards, our delivery of this content incorporates:

Teaching for Understanding

NOCCS has adopted the Teaching for Understanding framework developed by Boston-area teachers and researchers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, including leading educators and cognitive psychologists such as Howard Gardner, David Perkins and Vito Peronne. Using various forms of inquiry that engage their curiosity and wonder, students ask probing questions, conduct research, test their theories, make inferences, connect what they learn to the real world, and ultimately, apply their understanding on their own. For more information, go to learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/tfu/info3.cfm

California Early Literacy Learning

Literacy is a special focus of our school, and it is woven throughout the curriculum. At NOCCS, classroom experiences and instruction integrate reading, writing, speaking and listening to support literacy development. Teachers draw on a variety of methods to model and demonstrate the skills, strategies, and knowledge that promote word recognition, reading fluency, and comprehension.

NOCCS follows the California Early Literacy Learning (CELL) framework. More information on CELL can be found at www.cell-exll.com

Investigations in Number, Data and Space

NOCCS has adopted Investigations in Number, Data and Space as its math program. Investigations in Number, Data and Space, developed by TERC, is a comprehensive mathematics curriculum whose goals are to: offer students meaningful mathematical problems; emphasize depth in mathematical thinking rather than exposure to a series of fragmented topics; and communicate mathematics content and pedagogy to teachers. www.terc.edu

About NOCCS