English is the primary language of instruction. All courses are taught in English with the exception of Religion, Physical Education, Spanish and other modern language courses. Students are required to speak English in the classroom.

 

 

 

St. Augustine has an English language support teacher to help students who show deficiency in English skills. Students can be recommended for ELS by their English teachers. The ELS teacher may offer special assistance to students with deficiency regarding grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension and writing. A student may receive ELS until the student’s regular English teacher feels that he or she has reached the required English level for the grade.

Newly admitted students from Spanish schools will also receive ELS unless teachers consider such assistance unnecessary.

 

 

 

Our elementary and middle school curriculum is based on The Core Knowledge Sequence, a curricular guide designed by The Core Knowledge Foundation. The Core Knowledge Sequence is grounded on the belief that knowledge is sequential, that is, that knowledge builds on itself. Given this fact, it is absolutely necessary to ensure that the student is initially well prepared. Therefore, it is necessary to know with clarity what it is that a student is expected to know at each education level. The main purpose of the Core Knowledge Sequence, then, is to provide parents, teachers, and students with a specific and sequential guide of the learning objectives for students in each grade.  The Core Knowledge Sequence is a curricular guide that emphasizes content, i.e. the concrete body of knowledge that the student is expected to master. The Core Knowledge Sequence does not impose any teaching method. At St. Augustine Preparatory School, teachers will employ a variety of teaching techniques and strategies, as well as a variety of assessment tools, in order to assure the most efficient transmission of the content laid out in the Sequence.