Nelson School Curriculum

Instruction at Nelson School is delivered in small classrooms that occasionally include multiple grades. Within each classroom, students learn through many modes of instruction, including differentiated instruction, small and large groups, partner work and individual learning. Beyond the classroom structure, students participate in all-school learning experiences that can include: all-school singing, lunch and recess, assemblies, community service, themed activities, and whole school projects. Students work in multi-age groups across grade levels whenever it is practical and appropriate to do so, which helps to strengthen our tight-knit community. The tenets of the Responsive Classroom are the backbone of our philosophy and support our academic instruction. Technology is woven into all aspects of the curriculum at all grade levels.

Literacy

As of the 2024-2025 school year, Nelson School staff have embraced their commitment to provide the best possible literacy education to all students. This has consisted of the implementation of two new curricula: UFLI Foundations for phonics learning and Wit & Wisdom for reading, writing and language development. The primary grade focus is on phonics, with Wit & Wisdom implemented to build background knowledge, whereas Grades 3-5 maintain a more holistic approach to the programming, with a focus on Wit & Wisdom. At the upper elementary level, UFLI is used as an intervention to strengthen basic skills as needed. Wit & Wisdom integrates social studies and science topics, which contribute to building diverse background knowledge - an essential component to learning in all subjects.

Math

Nelson School continues to use Eureka Math as its core math curriculum. This program provides students with a strong math vocabulary and problem solving skills. With an increased focus on math and how it can be applied across the various curriculums, our students have shown improvement in their state assessments.

Eureka2 (Eureka Squared) is an updated version of the Eureka math curriculum that alleviates language as a barrier to demonstrating proficiency in math. This curriculum has been piloted in Grade 1, with a vision to implement it in Grades K-5 in the coming years.

Science

With the adoption of the NexGen Science standards, our students are learning about science in a practical, hands on approach. Utilizing activities and units that are aligned with these standards is teaching our students how to problem solve and become more independent thinkers. In addition to the integrated science topics in Wit & Wisdom, students engage with MysteryScience and also benefit from our partnership with The Harris Center for Conservation in neighboring Hancock, New Hampshire. Our naturalist from The Harris Center collaborates with teachers to plan a series of lessons centered around a natural topic or theme throughout the year. One highlight in recent years has been our 4th graders raising box turtles and then participating in a supervised release in the spring. Students in the fifth grade, participate in a week-long residential Ecology Camp experience at Ferry Beach Ecology School in Saco, Maine.

Social Studies

Social Studies is offered at all grade levels. In addition to integrated social studies topics in Wit & Wisdom, our grade spans have particular topics of focus. In Kindergarten through Grade 2, the focus is self, family, school community, and local community helpers. During the third and fourth grade years, the focus shifts to Nelson history and New Hampshire history. In their fifth grade years, students expand their knowledge of United States history and geography and expand their knowledge of other countries and ancient civilizations.

Unified Arts - Music, Art, Spanish, Physical Education (PE)

There is generally one Unified Arts offering (aka Specials class) each day at Nelson School. The music program at Nelson School consists of weekly music classes for all grades and additional instrument lessons offered to students in Grades 4&5. In Art class, students use a variety of media to explore and create different projects. Our Spanish class offers a mix of language development and cultural understanding, with the cultural pieces centering around a specific region or topic. Physical Education (PE) is designed to help students to develop movement skills for all stages of life, which are practiced through a series of competitive and cooperative games.