Lower School

Our Lower School offers a rigorous curriculum while nurturing our students to reach his or her full potential. Our mission is to partner with parents to equip students to think, learn, and live from a Biblical worldview by integrating God's word into every aspect of life so they can impact the world for Christ.

English/Language Arts

Teachers use a variety of teaching strategies and styles to reach all learners and challenge them in the areas of writing, reading, grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. Abeka, our English Language Arts program, starts with a strong beginning in TK and Kindergarten of phonemic and phonological awareness. This strong foundation launches our students into emergent readers that develop into fluent readers. Our curriculum utilizes reading textbooks, anthologies of short stories, and novels to gain a deeper understanding of strategies and literary components in order to increase comprehension. We also use the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) as our secondary writing program for grades 3 through 6. This allows students to achieve a deeper understanding of and success in the written language. All of these components of our ELA curriculum center on God's Word in order to know Him personally and make Him known.

Math/Science/Social Studies

Bible

Deep Roots Bible is an online curriculum that is accessible through teacher and student portals. It helps students study the Bible in an applicable way with a Biblical worldview and an apologetics perspective, offering evidence for what we believe as Christians. Through Deep Roots, students have the opportunity to learn how to apply Biblical truths to their own lives in practical ways through role-playing, games, and discussions.  Students are also encouraged to use critical thinking through intentionally designed discussions.

Lower School chapels are held weekly on Thursday mornings. All TK-6th grade classes attend chapel and take turns leading in pledges, prayer, and worship. Each week different speakers present a short message on the year’s theme. Speakers include faculty, administration, pastors, community leaders and missionaries. Parents are invited to attend and it is a favorite time of the week for students and teachers.

In the Lower School Fine Arts department, we believe each child is made in God’s image. Since we are created in His image, the creativity of God is inside of us.  God intended for the arts to bring joy and beauty into our lives, and to bring honor and glory to Him. Through weekly music and visual art courses, students learn vocabulary and skill set related to the arts, as well as 21st-century skills like self-control, self-discipline, listening, and teamwork. Our 6th grade students also participate in band throughout the school year. The Lower School classes provide a solid foundation for students to continue studying the arts in the Upper School. Lower School students have opportunities to showcase their talents in the arts through various musical performances throughout the school year as well as an art show during the school year.

To learn more about our Fine Arts Department, click here.

In Lower School, we are using the Sonrisas Spanish curriculum, which incorporates multiple effective teaching methodologies such as Total Physical Response, the Natural Approach, and the Waldorf World Language Approach. This curriculum integrates a variety of Spanish instructional materials through songs, children's stories, videos, activities, dialogue, dramatizations, and Spanish culture. Being able to share God's Word and the saving message of Jesus Christ in another language is extremely valuable. Therefore, we are using the Spanish Beginner's Bible to learn multiple Bible verses in Spanish so that we can share God's Word in our communities. Our hope is that children come away with a desire for sharing the Good News of the Gospel in Spanish along with an appreciation for other languages and cultures.

In Lower School, students learn how to use Google Suite products so that they can efficiently communicate information and ideas. All students spend a quarter learning coding with Code.org. Throughout the year we do hands-on STEM projects in which they use the engineering design process to solve a problem. Our older students do 3D design projects using Tinkercad and our 3D printer.

You can see all that we have been working on via our STEM Website.

https://sites.google.com/calvaryday.school/calvary-stem/home

Students attend three to four field trips each year. Field trips are organized and implemented by grade level so that they integrate current curriculum and are considered an integral, hands-on part of the learning process. Some of the students’ favorite field trips include: Dan Nicholas Park, High Point Children’s Museum, Old Salem, NC Transportation Museum, NC Zoo, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Raleigh (museums and government buildings), Tank Museum, Biltmore House, Billy Graham Library, and many more!

At CDS, our philosophy is that children should be allowed the freedom to be children. We allow for them to explore and experience the world in an active, hands on, environment. We believe that 5 year olds should be allowed to be 5 year olds. By having the ability to teach in small groups, we are able to keep a developmentally appropriate component to our kindergarten while accelerating students who are ready for more of an academic push. Since we do not have primary grades engage in standardized testing, we allow the child to develop into a strong reader during these years and provide a stress-free environment for the child to develop their reading comprehension skills.

Calvary, believing that every child is made in the image of God and has their own unique God-given talents, comes alongside parents to support the growth and success of each child.

Calvary Day School uses The Iowa/CogAT Assessments annually to help determine how students are performing on nationwide standards. Testing is administered toward the end of each academic year in our second through sixth grades. These assessments measure a student’s verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal reasoning ability, as well as, achievement in several important content areas including Vocabulary, Word Analysis, Reading, Listening, Language, Mathematics, Computation, Social Studies, and Science. The exact tests that students take will depend on his or her grade level.

The Iowa/CogAT Assessments help teachers identify a student’s strengths and areas that may need additional emphasis. The Iowa/CogAT Assessments also measure student growth and progress in the content areas assessed from year to year. The assessments produce information that enables sound decision-making and provides a focus for teachers to evaluate instruction.  

Based on normative data comparisons, Calvary Day School consistently outperforms other Christian schools in the Southeast and across the nation.

Calvary provides after-school child care for students TK through sixth grade. This is a service offered to enrolled Calvary students who need child care on a regular basis throughout the year. Fee are $255 per child per month for 5 days per week and $173 per child per month for 3 days per week. Fees are billed at the beginning of the month. Emergency/Drop-in care is available for $20 per day as needed. Extended care is only offered on days that school is in session and is not offered on days that Calvary dismisses at noon.

This program includes snack time, homework time, games, art activities, and time outside on the playground when weather permits.