Park must embrace the innovations of the 21st century learning environment to remain a leader in academics and program. Across the United States, educators are working to boost student scores in math and science. At Park, our faculty is actively modifying the curriculum in these areas as well as rethinking how students interact with technology –– all within the context of creating well-rounded global citizens.
New Initiatives in Math
Over the past eight years, Park School students have benefitted from our faculty’s significant focus on math instruction in Grades Pre-K-IX. Math at Park today is closely aligned with 21st century standards, and we’ve made great progress in both challenging and supporting a wide range of math learners across all grade levels. We see consistent evidence that our eighth and ninth graders matriculate to next schools with high levels of both achievement and passion in their study of math.
Park21 will build on this momentum and enable the School to further hone its math program by bringing additional leadership and support for emerging best practices to the Lower and Middle Divisions, where research tells us that lifelong attitudes towards math learning are established.
Following a comprehensive review of math instruction in local, national, and global peer schools, Park’s math teachers have looked closely at math education in Grades Pre-K to IX. After the successful implementation of math club last fall, the club has grown to encompass Grades III, IV, and V. Funding through Park21 will enable the School to hire a new full-time math coordinator for Grades III-V for the 2013-14 academic year, allowing the existing math coordinator to focus exclusively on Grades Pre-K to II. With the addition of this position, Park will offer more math resources for every classroom teacher in Pre-K to V, providing increased opportunities for co-planning, co-teaching, and coaching on a regular basis. Furthermore, teachers will have increased support in differentiating instruction within their classrooms to meet the needs of a range of learners.
Park21 will facilitate even greater consistency in the quality of math instruction throughout the Lower and Middle Divisions. In providing teachers and students with the leadership of an additional math coordinator, Park will be demonstrating its dedication to the importance of math learning, and the School will be in a strong position to offer the “world class” math program that the 21st century requires.