Curriculum

Instructional Design

Bellevue-Santa Fe Charter School (BSFCS) offers an exciting educational program rooted in multi-grade design, differentiation, project-based experiences, community involvement, and State standards.  Classroom teachers handcraft curriculum weekly to maintain challenge and implement new opportunities for hands-on, creative, and cooperative learning. Curriculum is language-based, academically advanced, and incorporates social learning on a daily basis.  Although curriculum is adopted, the school does not actively utilize linear program implementation to teach state standards. Accountability for completion builds throughout the grade levels and correlates to homework load as the grade levels progress (K-1: mainly for practice; 2/3 practice and project completion; 4/5 routine assignments and project completion; 6 all work).  Teachers use simulations involving dress up, role play, team cooperation, and competition to teach various areas of study amongst the grade levels. Classrooms are transported with decoration and orientation to correlate to the fluid curriculum design. Everyday, there is something new as projects are introduced, worked on, tailored, and celebrated in class by staff and students. Projects vary by teacher, subject matter, timeline, and expectations for completion.  BSFCS classrooms are active and can be noisy, as students work with each other and have different expectations or assignments, designated by the classroom teacher, occurring simultaneously. Projects often involve multiple opportunities for student choice and discussion. Direct instruction is selectively implemented by BSFCS teachers, as experiential and social learning is encouraged throughout the program. BSFCS believes that students grow when they are given the freedom to independently explore their own learning and challenge themselves with staff guidance in a social environment.