Expected School-wide Learning Results

With our focus on educating the whole child, we have developed the ACS curriculum and teaching practices to align with three key objectives. First, every student should learn at or above grade-level standards. These standards identify the factual information that students at a particular grade level should know and be able to apply. Second, each student should accomplish personal learning goals. These are “stretch” goals that teachers and parents create together for each student according to the student’s personal interests, learning style, strengths, and weaknesses. Third, each student should demonstrate our own Expected School-wide Learning Results (ESLRs). ESLRs represent the overall skills and attributes we believe students should develop over the course of their Almaden Country School experience. To that end, teachers at every grade level and in every subject area align curriculum and lesson plans to help prepare students to be:

• Critical and creative thinkers, who know, comprehend, apply, analyze, synthesize and evaluate.


• Literate individuals, who demonstrate developmental competency in reading, writing, mathematics, sciences, and other disciplines.


• Effective communicators, who listen, explain, make presentations, and respond with clarity, in all curriculum disciplines.


• Healthy individuals, who understand and demonstrate the elements of physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle.


• Community contributors, who practice respect, responsibility, courtesy, service, cooperation, generosity, honesty, patriotism, good citizenship, appreciation for diversity, and school team-building.


• Productive individuals, who discover, develop, appreciate, and apply their unique gifts with a strong work ethic.


• Self-respecting individuals, who understand their personal value and demonstrate confidence in their abilities.