Elementary School

Preschool at ACST is a play-based program for 3- and 4-year-olds that nurtures curiosity, independence, and social connection. Each day, children engage in open-ended activities that support skill development and meaningful relationships with peers and adults. Building confidence and fostering independence are key goals of our early childhood experience. In addition to daily experiences with literacy and math, students participate in specialist classes including art, music, physical education, counseling, and library.

Literacy is taught through a balanced approach that integrates direct instruction in foundational skills with the workshop model. This allows students to build strong decoding and comprehension abilities while engaging deeply in authentic reading and writing experiences. Individualized teacher conferences, whole-class read-alouds, and small-group strategy lessons support the development of key skills, strategies, and habits of mind across both fiction and nonfiction texts.

Our mathematics program follows a conceptual, problem-based approach grounded in student discourse and real-world application. Daily lessons begin with whole-group instruction that introduces big mathematical ideas through rich tasks and discussion. Students then engage in collaborative problem-solving and small-group guided practice, allowing them to explore multiple strategies, deepen understanding, and build fluency. This approach encourages reasoning, perseverance, and a strong foundation in mathematical thinking.

Social studies and science units alternate throughout the year, giving students opportunities to explore topics that connect to their everyday lives and the world around them—such as understanding local communities, environmental stewardship, and scientific inquiry through hands-on experiments and projects.

The elementary school offers French instruction at multiple levels—beginner, intermediate, and advanced—with the advanced level designed to meet the needs of native French speakers. When enrollment allows, we also offer German and Modern Standard Arabic for students who speak these languages as their mother tongue.

In addition to the core academic program, students attend music, visual arts, and physical education classes twice per six-day cycle, taught by specialist teachers. Counseling lessons are provided once per six-day cycle, supporting students’ social-emotional development and well-being.  Students visit the library once per six-day cycle for a variety of literacy and technology instruction with our Elementary Learning Center teacher.   

Each elementary grade level participates in a Cornerstone Project with a focus on service learning. Topics and projects are closely tied to curricular units with goals to learn, partner with the local community, and provide meaningful service locally, when possible. Community partners include those supporting animal welfare, environmental sustainability, or human rights. By working together to help those in need, our students developed a greater sense of empathy, compassion, and social responsibility, along with the belief that each and every one of them has the potential to make a difference in the world.

The Student Council is a group of students in Grades 4 and 5, elected by their classmates to represent their voices and help make the school a better place. In Elementary School, Student Council teaches young students about leadership, teamwork, and responsibility in a fun and supportive way. Being part of the Student Council helps students build confidence, practice public speaking, and learn how to listen to others and work together. It's a great way for kids to learn about democracy, cooperation, and how their voices can make a positive difference in their school community.

ACST offers a vibrant After-School Activities (ASA) program for students in Kindergarten through Grade 5. The program runs across three sessions each year, with each session lasting approximately 10 weeks. At the elementary level, ASAs are designed to provide a wide range of experiences that help students identify passions and interests while building relationships that support a sense of belonging within ACST.

Positive Discipline is the framework ACST teachers use to guide their classroom management. By understanding that behavior is motivated by the desire for belonging and significance, Positive Discipline promotes connection before correction, being firm and kind, and explicitly teaching social and life skills to invite children to discover and develop agency. The Falcon Way is ACST’s behavior response program, which aims to be proactive, reflective, and restorative. It uses shared, positive language, builds a strong home-school partnership, and provides opportunities to celebrate and model expected behaviors. The mantra is, “I am safe. I am responsible. I am respectful.”.