Elementary Academic Expectation

Attendance

• Absences Faithful attendance is an important requirement for our life together and one of the keys to academic success. But sometimes a student might not be able to attend school, and at those times we ask that he/she tell us what's happened so we won't worry unnecessarily.
• Unplanned absences (for example, sickness): Parents are asked to call the school office between 8:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. (9:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on Wednesdays) on the day the student is absent to give notice of the absence and the anticipated duration. Another way to inform the school is to send an email to attendance@caj.ac.jp before the school start time. If the school is not contacted, a call home will be attempted to make sure the student hasn't had some unexpected difficulty on the way to school.
• Planned absences (absences of one day and more) should be arranged at least one week in advance of the absence using the Elementary Planned Absence Form (available at Elementary Resources on the CAJ website). Students are expected to complete assignments by the due dates set by the teacher.
• Half-day/whole-day absences: Students who miss class beyond 1:00 p.m. are considered absent for the entire day, even if they come to school for some portion of the day. Students who miss class up until 1:00 p.m. are considered absent for one-half day.
• Tardiness

Students who have excessive tardies will have an email sent home to parents.

• Truancy

Students who are absent without parental permission are considered truant. Truant students are ineligible to make up tests/quizzes but are eligible to submit assignments. The principal may take additional disciplinary steps to address truancy.

Assessment Practices

Definitions:

• Formative Assessments are a wide variety of methods that teachers use to evaluate student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course. They are used to improve instruction and student learning.
• Summative assessments are used to evaluate student learning progress and achievement at the conclusion of a specific instructional period—usually at the end of a project, unit, course, semester, program, or school year.

In other words, formative assessments are for learning, while summative assessments are of learning.

Homework Philosophy

• In general, CAJ believes homework is a formative assessment that should deepen and reinforce understanding and skill.
• If homework assignments are given they should be meaningful, reasonable, and well planned.

Homework Practice:

• Students in 3rd - 5th grade are expected to develop strategies to keep track of assignments in a planner.
• Students are generally expected to be reading every night 10-30 minutes depending on the grade level.

Standardized Tests

• Measures of Academic Progress (MAP®)
  • MAP® was created by Northwest Evaluation Association™(NWEA™) and is a computer adaptive test, which means every student gets a unique set of test questions based on responses to previous questions. As the student answers correctly, questions become harder. If the student answers incorrectly, the questions become easier.
  • These tests are not timed.
  • The MAP® tests CAJ will be administering are the Reading, Language Usage, and Mathematics to our grades 3 - 8 students. We are able to administer the MAP® tests up to three times a year, allowing teachers, students and parents to see progress within a school year.
  • The Student Support Team are able to set up accommodations for students with IEP/OAP, such as small group testing environment.
  • NWEA™has consultants available to help with data interpretations.
• World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA)
  • WIDA testing is once a year, usually in November/December for students in English as a Second Language class.
  • The assessments measure students' academic English language in four language domains: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing.
  • The content of the assessments aligns with the five WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards:
    • Social & Instructional Language
    • Language of Language Arts
    • Language of Mathematics
    • Language of Science
    • Language of Social Studies
• easyCBM
  • easyCBM is given to Kindergarten - grade two
  • Design by University of Oregon, as part of Response to Intervention.
  • Helps teachers make good decisions on how to help students to meet and exceed standards
• Benchmark Assessment System (BAS)
  • BAS used to determine student’s independent and instructional reading levels, teachers are able to observe student reading behaviors one-on-one, engage in comprehension conversations that go beyond retelling, and make informed decisions that connect assessment to instruction.

Seesaw

• Each class is connected to Seesaw. Teachers can assign activities. Teachers and students can post student work.
• Students should discuss the work they post on Seesaw with their parents.

LearnerBuild

• CAJ uses a system known as Learner Build to enter and display grades. The grades entered on Learner Build are posted by the teachers and are available to be seen by the parents. The system is accessed through our website.

Google Classroom - 3rd - 5th grade

Google Classroom is a classroom web interface provided by Google for Education. This allows the teachers to interact with the students through announcements, assignments and other online interaction allowing for easier communication, distribution of work and collaboration. The use of this platform is encouraged throughout the secondary courses to create educational opportunities and online interactivity and is introduced to students in 3rd grade.

Academic Integrity

Students who have been caught cheating will automatically receive a zero on the assignment and parents will be notified. Cheating is defined as copying someone else’s work. Students who knowingly allow others to cheat, copy their work or do someone else's work may also face similar consequences. Cheating is used as a learning experience for elementary students.

Curriculum

• The elementary curriculum provides regular instruction in Bible, language arts (reading, writing, grammar, and word study), health, mathematics, social studies, and science.
  • Instruction in music, physical education, art, and library is offered on a regular basis. Japanese instruction is also provided for Grades 1-5.
  • Technology is integrated throughout the curriculum.
  • Band is offered to students in Grade 5.
• All grades take school-day field trips coordinated with the curriculum. All policies of the school and expectations for behavior are in effect during these trips. Existing and proposed outings are under constant review. Fifth grade has an overnight camping excursion in the fall.
• English as an Additional Language students will be assessed with WIDA ( World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment) and student work.

Awards

Bible memory awards: Each elementary class learns Bible passages throughout the year with the goal of being able to recite all of the verses at the end of the year. In addition to learning each grade’s assigned verses, students review verses learned in previous grades. By the end of 5th grade, the hope is that students have memorized all of the verses on the elementary list. At the last chapel of the year, K-4 students who have learned the assigned verses receive a ribbon and 5th graders receive a medal.
Elementary Bible Verses

Service learning

At CAJ, we desire to teach our students to serve others at CAJ, in Japan, and around the world. In elementary, we support two children financially through Compassion International and participate in various projects at and around CAJ. We also collect gifts for children at an orphanage in Japan at Christmas time.

Schedules

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

8:00 am - Gates and playground open

8:30 am - School begins

10:00 am - Recess

11:45 am - Lunch and recess

3:30 pm - Dismissal

3:55 pm - All ES students are expected to leave campus

Wednesday

9:00 - Gates and playground open

9:30 - School begins

11:45 - Lunch and recess

3:30 pm Dismissal

3:55 pm All ES students are expected to leave campus