Academics Beaches Episcopal School Jacksonville Beach Florida

Beaches Episcopal School has a strong reputation in the area of academics. We have found our students are well-prepared once they leave sixth grade. Our curriculum is continually being assessed and updated at all grade levels.

Language Arts in grades pre-kindergarten through third emphasizes a strong phonics base mixed with an engaging, age-appropriate literature component that is found in the Harcourt Storytown 2008 series. The fourth through sixth grades have a novel-based curriculum supported by the Accelerated Reader program, Wordly Wise, and the SRA/Barnell-Loft Specific Skills series. All of the students in second through sixth grades have also enjoyed the Shurley English jingle-based program so much that we will be adding it to the second and third grade curriculum, and plan to possibly pilot the program for first grade.

Mathematics is a combination of basic skills and problem solving strategies found in the MacMillan/McGraw-Hill series. All of the grades, kindergarten through sixth, use this very comprehensive program along with many supplements like Singapore Math and Math Journaling, to provide a truly challenging curriculum. The addition of Accelerated Math this year for first through sixth grades will also allow us to continue to challenge all students according to their individual ability level.

The Scott Foresman Science 2007 program is a perfect fit for our kindergarten through sixth grade science needs. Its hands-on approach to questions and discovery has renewed the interest of our young scientists in a time when many schools are de-emphasizing science in the classroom.

Our Social Studies is as diverse as the subject matter. In kindergarten, it is included within the literature component of the Language Arts program. First through sixth grades use the highly interactive Social Studies Alive!/History Alive! program. Fourth and fifth grades also use the History of U.S. program as a supplement to their United States history studies, and the sixth grade enhances its hands-on approach to ancient history with the Prentice Hall World Explorers series.

Beaches Episcopal School also offers a full selection of eight Enrichment subjects for all of the children to enjoy. Children at all grade levels will have at least one Music, Spanish, Christian Education, Physical Education, Movement, Computer, Art and Library class per week. These areas are extremely important as we attempt to teach to the whole child.

Our faculty is a team of experienced and dedicated teachers who are enthusiastic about their subject areas, their students and teaching itself. BES teachers act as mentors leading children to seek out answers for themselves so that they become self-motivated learners. They look for students' individual aptitudes and interests to use as a springboard to help the child achieve success in other areas. BES teachers also work together to help students make connections across disciplines. A concept or theme explored in science might be taken up in library, expressed in music or discussed in chapel. Children are encouraged to relate what they are studying to the world so that learning continues outside of the classroom and into life.