Academics and Programs
SAIL has an arts-infused curriculum and uses all the arts as a means of teaching or students demonstrating knowledge of all subject areas from Literacy to Math to Science to Social Studies.
Regular communication with parents is important at SAIL. Teachers send home daily contracts which details academic performance and behavior notes. There is also room for the parent’s response.
Regular communication with parents is important at SAIL. Teachers send home daily contracts which details academic performance and behavior notes. There is also room for the parent’s response.
Responsive Classroom
SAIL uses the Responsive Classroom approach to teaching and learning that emphasizes social, emotional, and academic growth in a strong and safe school community.
Guiding principles of the Responsive Classroom include:
• The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum
• How children learn is as important as what they learn
• The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction
• To be successful academically and socially, students need a set of social skills: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.
Response to Intervention (RTI)
Starting with the 2009-2010 school year, SAIL was selected by the Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) to be one of five DC public charter schools participating in a three-year pilot program using Response to Intervention (RTI), a rigorous literacy and math program.
Response to Intervention is a multi-tiered approach to help struggling learners. Students' progress is closely monitored at each stage of intervention to determine the need for further research-based instruction and/or intervention in general education, in special education, or both.
Essential Components of RTI:
• High-quality classroom instruction
• Multi-tiered instruction (class, small groups, and individuals)
• Ongoing student assessment
• Family involvement
Through this program, all students at SAIL spend two hours a day on literacy activities. Students are put in small groups according to their reading level as opposed to strict grade level placement to work on specific literacy goals.
Using RTI, SAIL is able to identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes, monitor student progress, provide evidence-based interventions, adjust the intensity and nature of those interventions depending on a student’s responsiveness, and identify students with learning disabilities.
Programs
Every student is paired with a Reading Buddy, a caring adult who volunteers half an hour a week reading with the student. This is a great way to not only help improve reading, but also to facilitate a great bonding experience. Several students also have Math Buddies to help students improve their math skills.
SAIL has clubs every other Wednesday afternoon that include Drama, Music, Kung Fu for Concentration, Sports, Leadership, Yoga and Socialites. Also, SAIL has a Cub Scout den.
SAIL has partnerships with the West End Library, the Corcoran School of Art, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts that supplement SAIL’s programs. Three times a year, SAIL students have performances at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hall of Flags.
SAIL uses the Responsive Classroom approach to teaching and learning that emphasizes social, emotional, and academic growth in a strong and safe school community.
Guiding principles of the Responsive Classroom include:
• The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum
• How children learn is as important as what they learn
• The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction
• To be successful academically and socially, students need a set of social skills: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.
Response to Intervention (RTI)
Starting with the 2009-2010 school year, SAIL was selected by the Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) to be one of five DC public charter schools participating in a three-year pilot program using Response to Intervention (RTI), a rigorous literacy and math program.
Response to Intervention is a multi-tiered approach to help struggling learners. Students' progress is closely monitored at each stage of intervention to determine the need for further research-based instruction and/or intervention in general education, in special education, or both.
Essential Components of RTI:
• High-quality classroom instruction
• Multi-tiered instruction (class, small groups, and individuals)
• Ongoing student assessment
• Family involvement
Through this program, all students at SAIL spend two hours a day on literacy activities. Students are put in small groups according to their reading level as opposed to strict grade level placement to work on specific literacy goals.
Using RTI, SAIL is able to identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes, monitor student progress, provide evidence-based interventions, adjust the intensity and nature of those interventions depending on a student’s responsiveness, and identify students with learning disabilities.
Programs
Every student is paired with a Reading Buddy, a caring adult who volunteers half an hour a week reading with the student. This is a great way to not only help improve reading, but also to facilitate a great bonding experience. Several students also have Math Buddies to help students improve their math skills.
SAIL has clubs every other Wednesday afternoon that include Drama, Music, Kung Fu for Concentration, Sports, Leadership, Yoga and Socialites. Also, SAIL has a Cub Scout den.
SAIL has partnerships with the West End Library, the Corcoran School of Art, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts that supplement SAIL’s programs. Three times a year, SAIL students have performances at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hall of Flags.