The first eight years of life are instrumental in setting children on a path to success or conversely, in allowing achievement gaps to widen, forcing students, teachers and administrators to play a continuous game of catch up over later years. We believe that the primary school years are critical to ensuring that children develop a solid foundation in literacy, math, social-emotional skills, as well as strong engagement in learning.

Our Primary curriculum provides for the alignment of standards, curriculum, instruction, assessments, family engagement and professional development to create a seamless and effective pathway of learning for our students.

Our classes implement a center-based learning model to ensure that the teacher is able to provide direct instruction to three or four students at a time in all core subjects. Multisensory and brain-based strategies are highly effective in teaching students to self regulate and present with a focused mind in the classroom.

Teachers are able to focus on differentiating instruction in small groups during “center based learning”. Based on assessment, the small class size is further divided into groups for Language/Communication, Fine Motor/Handwriting, and STEM activities. The 1:4 teacher-to-student ratio in Pre-K and 1:6 teacher-to student ratio in TK allows for significant progress to occur during these formative years.

Pinnacle has shown evidence-based outcomes for young children within a curriculum approach that is developmentally appropriate, incorporates active learning, and includes multi-sensory teaching strategies (visual, auditory, tactile-kinesthetic) in the areas of language/literacy and mathematics.

Mastering the basic skill of reading is the gateway to further academic success. These early years focus on learning to read, which includes phonetic decoding, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary development, spelling, and beginning written expression. Students need to use reading skills to understand other subjects such as math and science, to solve problems, and to think critically about what they are learning. We recognize that students who struggle to develop a basic level of competency by third grade are more likely to struggle academically and have behavioral and social problems in subsequent grades, as well as higher rates of retention. Therefore, we view the Primary School years as an opportunity for intensive instruction and prevention for the continued widening of learning gaps.