Academics

Integrated Language Arts

Wonders provides an explicit research-based ILA program that empowers students to take an active role in learning and exploration. It provides unparalleled opportunities for student-friendly self-assessments and self-expression through reading, writing and speaking. This strong educational program provides differentiation to ensure that every student has the opportunity to become a strong reader, writer and critical thinker.

Beginning to Read, Write and Listen by McGraw-Hill Education is a comprehensive reading-language arts program. It contains and correlates reading, handwriting, auditory and oral language skills. It is a multi-sensory program of visual, kinesthetic and auditory activities.

Imagine My Path Reading is a personalized learning program that accelerates both skills and language development. This digital reading program provides instruction and practice in all four domains of literacy - reading, writing, listening and speaking. As students explore and practice skills, their individualized learning sequence adjusts dynamically to maximize their engagement and progress, accelerating to match a cognitive leap or adjusting to accommodate unfinished learning.

Orton-Gillingham is a multi-sensory approach to teaching all of the components of language development.  Lessons are prescriptive, diagnostic and individualized. The senses are engaged simultaneously to create the neural network that students need to manipulate the components of language structure.

Handwriting

Writing Our Catholic Faith builds on previously learned skills to help students continue to develop manuscript handwriting. Traceable words and sentences reinforce proper letter formation, letter and word spacing. Beautiful Catholic pictures and fun activities keep students engaged in each lesson.

Scholastic Alphatales reinforces letter sounds and shapes through alliterative stories. This helps to prompt letter recognition skills that lay the foundation for reading success.

Creative Teaching Press - Sight Word Sentences is an active learning approach providing multiple hands-on opportunities to develop an array of essential literacy skills. Children learn from concepts about print to recognizing sight words and developing higher level comprehension skills.

Math

enVision Mathematics is a math program that combines problem based learning with visual learning to deepen students’ conceptual understanding. The lessons start with problem based learning. Students will think critically about real-world math problems, evaluate options, collaborate and present solutions. This is followed by visual learning to solidify the underlying math concepts. As a result, the children have a better understanding of math ideas. This program has received top honors for supporting students at all levels.

Imagine My Path Math is a supplemental mathematics curriculum designed to provide differentiated and adaptive mathematics instruction. Students work independently in a computer-based platform to complete activities with visual cues and live virtual support from U.S. certified mathematics teachers as needed. Embedded within the curriculum are formative and benchmark assessments that inform placement and progress. This program adapts to the needs of each student to maintain learning in the zone of proximal development. Additionally, various levels of motivation are included through contests, games and performance points to support strong student engagement.

History and Science

Scholastic Social Studies is a student’s guide to the world. It maximizes student engagement with real-world content that reflects diverse experiences, identities and abilities - through read-alouds, videos and activities. It also provides diversified language across curricular activities. Scholastic supports student well-being in any content area with texts and activities that weave SEL competencies into academic instruction.

Scholastic Science Spin addresses all three dimensions of NGSS. Students are introduced to 8 science and engineering practices, 12 core ideas, and a wide range of crosscutting concepts that span every scientific domain. It includes colorful, real world science and the latest science news, as students examine patterns, cause and effect, scale, proportion, quantity, and systems.

Religion

Word of Life encourages, inspires and strengthens Catholic identity, fosters prayer and spirituality, prepares students to embrace and live their faith, and celebrates being Catholic. Children’s relationship with Christ is nurtured through age-appropriate presentation of Catholic faith.

Growing with God Safe and Sacred is a program that offers a practical and systematic approach to child safety, social development and emotional development. Students are taught to see themselves and others as children of God inherently deserving of respect and care.

Specials

Students meet once per week for 60 minutes in the following special subject areas:

Art 
The standards for Kindergarten serve as building blocks for further Visual Arts instruction. Students will learn that art is a personal expression, has value, and teaches us about other times and places. It is also important for students to begin to develop an art vocabulary along with fine motor skills. Students will understand that their works of art are unique and valuable as forms of self-expression. Emphasis will be placed on the artistic process including idea development, production and reflection to achieve a final piece of art. Typical projects are inspired by artists or books initially discussed during the introduction of each project. Students are encouraged to use their creativity and be proud of everything they have created.

Gym
Kindergarten Physical Education focuses heavily on developing fine, gross, manipulative, and non-manipulative skills to be able to apply them into a variety of group activities as well as individual ones. Our physical education program addresses the needs of all students through diversified skill development and activities designed to implement locomotor, non-locomotor, manipulative, non-manipulative skills, with and without equipment. The goal of our physical education program is to involve the body in developing lifetime skills necessary for individual and team sports.

Living the Virtues
Holy Cross Academy strives to create a culture of kindness that allows us to grow in faith as well as in our everyday lives. Our Living the Virtues program guides students as they grow in virtuousness and teaches them to see the virtues as concrete expressions of our Catholic faith. The program and curriculum are structured on the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Kindergarten students learn self-regulation skills and improve their communication through talking about the virtues and focusing on what God and Jesus would like us to do in a variety of age-appropriate scenarios.

Music 
The Kindergarten Music Exploration program is designed to nurture a love of music and provide young learners with a foundational understanding of musical concepts. Through age-appropriate activities, students will explore rhythm, melody, singing, movement, and basic music theory. Materials used in the curriculum include instruments like piano keyboards, rhythm sticks, handbells, and xylophones, as well as simple visuals, children’s songs, and recorded music. This curriculum aims to create a positive and engaging musical experience for students, fostering a lifelong love of music, and providing a solid foundation for their future musical education.

Spanish
The Spanish Language and Culture program for Kindergarten is designed to introduce students to the Spanish language and its peoples while nurturing their faith through Catholic teachings and values. This curriculum seeks to develop students’ basic Spanish language skills, including listening and speaking, and introduce them to the diverse cultures and traditions of Spanish-speaking communities.

STEM
PLTW curriculum utilized in our STEM program is designed to empower students to thrive in an evolving world and focuses on connections to a variety of New Jersey State Learning Standards for Computer Science, Math and English Language Arts. Holy Cross Academy partners with PLTW to offer a hands-on, project-based approach to learning for students in Grades K-8. The program incorporates Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) skills needed for future success. Kindergarten students are immersed in PLTW’s Launch program, exploring topics such as Pushes and Pulls. In addition to PLTW programs, students in Kindergarten work on a variety of technology-based skills such as Google Tools for Education and Coding, all while incorporating and taking the Catholic values that we use in our real world with us into the digital world.