Superior academic curriculum tailored to your child's individual needs.

With the maximum benefit of each student as the objective, the HSCS faculty evaluates, develops, and implements curriculum programs. The development of the curriculum includes the writing and implementation of expected goals for every grade in every subject. Every effort is made to apply the most effective and current programs in the classrooms.

MATHEMATICS: A high-quality mathematics program is essential for all students and provides every student with the opportunity to choose among the full range of future career paths. Mathematics, when taught well, is exciting in its logic and coherence. It trains the mind to be analytic - providing the foundation for intelligent and precise thinking.

To compete successfully in the worldwide economy, today's students must have a high degree of comprehension in mathematics. The content standards developed by HSCS establish what every student can and needs to learn in mathematics. They are comparable to the standards of the most academically demanding nations, including Japan and Singapore - two high-performing countries in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Mathematics is critical for all students, not only those who will have careers that demand advanced mathematical preparation but all citizens who will be living in the twenty-first century. These standards are based on the premise that all students are capable of learning rigorous mathematics and learning it well, and all are capable of learning far more than is currently expected. Proficiency in most of mathematics is not an innate characteristic; it is achieved through persistence, effort, and practice on the part of students and rigorous and effective instruction on the part of teachers. Parents and teachers must provide support and encouragement.

The standards focus on essential content for all students and prepare students for the study of advanced mathematics, science and technical careers, and postsecondary study in all content areas. All students are required to grapple with solving problems; develop abstract, analytic thinking skills; learn to deal effectively and comfortably with variables and equations; and use mathematical notation effectively to model situations. The goal in mathematics education is for students to:

• Develop fluency in basic computational skills.
• Develop an understanding of mathematical concepts.
• Become mathematical problem solvers who can recognize and solve routine problems readily and can find ways to reach a solution or goal where no routine path is apparent.
• Communicate precisely about quantities, logical relationships, and unknown values through the use of signs, symbols, models, graphs, and mathematical terms.
• Reason mathematically by gathering data, analyzing evidence, and building arguments to support or refute hypotheses.
• Make connections among mathematical ideas and between mathematics and other disciplines.

The standards emphasize computational and procedural skills, conceptual understanding, and problem solving. These three components of mathematics instruction and learning are not separate from each other; instead, they are intertwined and mutually reinforcing.

Basic, or computational and procedural, skills are those skills that all students should learn to use routinely and automatically. Students should practice basic skills sufficiently and frequently enough to commit them to memory.

Mathematics makes sense to students who have a conceptual understanding of the domain. They know not only how to apply skills but also when to apply them and why they should apply them. They understand the structure and logic of mathematics and use the concepts flexibly, effectively, and appropriately. In seeing the big picture and in understanding the concepts, they are in a stronger position to apply their knowledge to situations and problems they may not have encountered before and readily recognize when they have made procedural errors.

Problem solving involves applying skills, understanding, and experiences to resolve new or perplexing situations. It challenges students to apply their understanding of mathematical concepts in a new or complex situation, to exercise their computational and procedural skills, and to see mathematics as a way of finding answers to some of the problems that occur outside a classroom. Students grow in their ability and persistence in problem solving by extensive experience in solving problems at a variety of levels of difficulty and at every level in their mathematical development.

The mathematics content standards for kindergarten through grade seven are organized by grade level and are presented in five strands: number sense; algebra and functions; measurement and geometry; statistics, data analysis, and probability; and mathematical reasoning. Focus statements indicating the increasingly complex mathematical skills that will be required of students from kindergarten through grade seven are included at the beginning of each grade level; the statements indicate the ways in which the discrete skills and concepts form a cohesive whole.

Technology should be used to promote mathematics learning. Technology can help promote students' understanding of mathematical concepts, quantitative reasoning, and achievement when used as a tool for solving problems, testing conjectures, accessing data, and verifying solutions. When students use electronic tools, databases, programming language, and simulations, they have opportunities to extend their comprehension, reasoning, and problem-solving skills beyond what is possible with traditional print resources. Technology may also be used to reinforce basic skills through computer-assisted instruction, tutoring systems, and drill-and-practice software.

LANGUAGE ARTS: The ability to communicate well - to read, write, listen, and speak - runs to the core of human experience. Language skills are essential tools not only because they serve as the necessary basis for further learning and career development but also because they enable the human spirit to be enriched, foster responsible citizenship, and preserve the collective memory of a nation.

Students who read well learn the tempo and structure of language early in their development. They master vocabulary, variance in expression, and organization and skill in marshaling evidence to support an idea. National Institutes of Health studies indicate that students who are behind in reading in grade three have only a 12 to 20 percent chance of ever catching up.

Students must read a broad variety of quality texts to develop proficiency in, and derive pleasure from, the act of reading. Students must also have experience in a broad range of writing applications, from the poetic to the technical.

Reading and writing technical materials, moreover, are critical life skills. Participation in society - filling out forms, voting, understanding the daily newspaper - requires solid reading and writing competencies. Similarly, most jobs demand the abilities to read and write well. Collegiate and technical courses generally require a high level of proficiency in both abilities.

Reading and writing offer the power to inform and to enlighten as well as to bridge time and place. For example, interpreting and creating literary texts help students to understand the people who have lived before them and to participate in, and contribute to, a common literary heritage. Through literature, moreover, students experience the unique history of the United States in an immediate way and encounter many cultures that exist both within and beyond this nation's borders. Through reading and writing students may share perspectives on enduring questions, understand and learn how to impart essential information, and even obtain a glimpse of human motivation. Reading and writing offer incomparable experiences of shared conflict, wisdom, understanding, and beauty.

In selecting both literary and informational texts for required reading and in giving writing assignments (as well as in helping students choose their own reading and writing experiences), our teachers take advantage of every opportunity to link reading and writing to other core curricula, including history, social science, mathematics, and science. By understanding and creating literary and technical writing, students explore the interrelationships of their own existence with those of others.

Students need to read and write often, particularly in their early academic careers. Reading and writing something of literary or technical substance in all disciplines, every day, both in and out of school, are the principal goals of our standards.

Speaking and listening skills have never been more important. Most Americans now talk for a living at least part of the time. The abilities to express ideas cogently and to construct valid and truthful arguments are as important to speaking well as to writing well. Honing the ability to express defensible reflections about literature will ensure comprehension and understanding. Not long ago listening and speaking occupied central places in the curriculum, but only a few schools have maintained this tradition. The time has come to restore it.

Reading, writing, listening, and speaking are not disembodied skills. Each exists in context and in relation to the others. These skills must not be taught independently of one another. Rather, they need to be developed in the context of a rich, substantive core curriculum that is geared not only toward achieving these standards per se but also toward applying language arts skills to achieve success in other curricular areas. The good news is that reading, writing, listening, and speaking are skills that invariably improve with study and practice.

SCIENCE: The standards include grade-level specific content for kindergarten through grade seven. A significant feature is the focus on earth sciences in the sixth grade and life sciences in the seventh grade in preparation for physical sciences in the eighth grade and physics, chemistry, biology/life sciences, and earth sciences in grades eight through twelve. An Investigation and Experimentation strand describes a progressive set of expectations for each grade from kindergarten through grade seven. Throughout the curriculum, God as the Creator is emphasized.

The elementary and middle school standards provide the foundational skills and knowledge for students to learn core concepts, principles, and theories of science at the high school level. The standards are organized in sets under broad concepts as the content systematically increases in depth, breadth, and complexity through the grade levels.

Students should have the opportunity to learn science by receiving direct instruction, by reading textbooks and supplemental materials, by solving standards-based problems, and by doing laboratory investigations and experiments. The Investigation and Experimentation standards will be integral to, and directly and specifically support, the teaching of the content strands and disciplines.

The standards were developed by reviewing the National Science Education Standards and standards from other nations with successful science education programs. These science standards will challenge all students. The elementary school standards call for early introduction of science facts and terms and ask the multiple-subject teacher to find time in the school day for science education. Quality textbooks and reading materials in science are available to support students in mastering these standards as they develop their reading skills and vocabulary. The Investigation and Experimentation standards allow students to make a concrete association between science and the study of nature as well as provide them with many opportunities to take measurements and use their basic mathematical skills.

The middle school science standards, with emphasis on the disciplines at each grade level, raise the bar substantially for students. The standards make the middle school curriculum more rigorous in response to a national call for excellence and prepare students for in-depth study of science at the high school level.

The content is taught so that students have the opportunity to build connections that link science to technology and societal impacts. Science, technology, and societal issues are strongly connected to community health, population, natural resources, environmental quality, natural and human-induced hazards, and other global challenges. The standards should be viewed as the foundation for understanding these issues.

SOCIAL STUDIES: The standards emphasize historical narrative, highlight the roles of significant individuals throughout history, and convey the rights and obligations of citizenship.

In that spirit the standards proceed chronologically and call attention to the story of America as a noble experiment in a constitutional republic. They recognize that America's ongoing struggle to realize the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution is the struggle to maintain our beautifully complex national heritage of e pluribus unum. While the standards emphasize Western civilizations as the source of American political institutions, laws, and ideology, they also expect students to analyze the changing political relationships within and among other countries and regions of the world, both throughout history and within the context of contemporary global interdependence.

These standards require students not only to acquire core knowledge in history and social science, but also to develop the critical thinking skills that historians and social scientists employ to study the past and its relationship to the present. It is possible to spend a lifetime studying history and not learn about every significant historical event; no one can know everything. However, we want students to learn how to distinguish the important from the unimportant, to recognize vital connections between the present and the past, and to appreciate universal historical themes and dilemmas.

The use of biographies, documents, diaries, letters, legends, speeches, and other narrative artifacts from our past is encouraged to foster the students' understanding of historical events by revealing the ideas, values, fears, and dreams of the people associated with them. The standards also emphasize the importance of enriching the study of history through the use of literature, both from and about the period being studied.

Mastery of these standards will ensure that students not only know the facts, but also understand common and complex themes throughout history, making connections among their own lives, the lives of the people who came before them, and the lives of those to come.

Knowledge and skills increase in complexity in a systematic fashion from kindergarten through grade seven. In kindergarten through grade three, students are introduced to the basic concepts of each discipline: history, geography, civics, and economics. Beginning at grade four, the disciplines are woven together within the standards at each grade.

To approach subject matter as historians, geographers, economists, and political scientists, students are expected to employ critical thinking skills as they master the content.