Elementary Archives - Page 3 of 7 - Presidio Knolls School

Published Authors!

During their first grade year, three PKS classmates created a story called “Friends in the Arctic” as part of their shadow show project.The story follows a group of friends who live in the Arctic. One day, they are unexpectedly sucked…

Curriculum

A word, as a dad and an administrator, on the Kavanaugh story

As many of you know, I have a P3 student here at PKS, and a 2 year old son whom I hope will join us when he is old enough. Both kids were in the car with me on Thursday morning as I tuned in to the Judiciary Committee hearings in which Dr. Christine Blasey Ford courageously told her story. I found myself feeling confused, and a bit helpless, as I tried to balance my civic impulses and my fatherly impulses.

Curriculum

Building the Future of Bilingual Education

Almost ten years ago, I wrote an article titled "Academic Rigor and Student Engagement: A Perfect Match." While many feared that they would need to sacrifice student engagement in the service of academic rigor, I argued strongly that academic rigor could ONLY genuinely come together with student engagement, and that truly rigorous learning at its core needed to be about exploration, discovery, creativity, inquiry, and pattern recognition.

Curriculum

PKS Selected to Present at National Chinese Language Conference

The proposal on Project Based Learning in Upper Elementary School was selected for presentation in the Curriculum and Instruction breakout session of the annual National Chinese Language Conference (NCLC).

Elementary

Time to Let Them Fly: A Mother’s Story

A personal essay by Denise Svenson, PKS Elementary Math Specialist:“…My [temporary] presence had an obvious impact on the group dynamic. Students have had the habit of code-switching without realizing it, and the habit was impossible to break…This trip marks a rite of passage for our kids. To make it a family trip would be taking away from everything we’ve hoped for them – independence and confidence navigating in a Chinese-speaking environment.”

Elementary

Sharing Best Practices in Immersion Education

PKS was invited to Washington, DC as part of a symposium on immersion education. Seven of our faculty members visited four schools, deepening their knowledge of best practices while sharing some of their own unique insights. Our expertise on how to integrate Mandarin immersion within a progressive framework was noted as "the only model out there combining data-based immersion practices with rigorous PBL."

Community

Happy (Chinese) New Year! 新年快乐！

Our community celebration welcoming the Year of the Dog was PKS's largest-ever Chinese New Year event, with almost 900 people in attendance. Organized over the course of several months by a parent-led committee chaired by Monica Savini, the event featured…

Elementary

Inquiry, Discovery, and the Bilingual Brain

The benefits of a bilingual education (and of a bilingual brain!) are well-documented. They range from positive correlations with executive functioning in the brain to advantages in staving off the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s disease.

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Curriculum

Advancing our Human Development Program and Curriculum

Ensuring that your future teenager makes healthy choices, navigates through toxic external pressures, and enters young adulthood as a powerful, confident self-advocate begins when they are toddlers.