THE SCHOOL DAY The school day begins at 9:00 am and ends at 3:45 pm. Students are supervised on the playground from 8:30 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. All students should arrive by 8:50 am so that they can be ready to learn at 9:00 a.m. sharp!
How We Assess Learning Students are also involved in the learning process by giving critical feedback to their peers and themselves. Assessment can occur from written tests, lab reports, presentations, performances, observations, research papers, projects, etc. Report cards are used to provide feedback on students’ level of mastery and to provide important anecdotal observations about a student’s progress and social development. Students take a standardized, norm-referenced test (MAP) twice every year in grades 3 – 5. Once a year, students lead their own conferences and communicate their learning to their parents using a portfolio of their work during the Student-Led Conferences.
Curriculum Resources Textbooks supplement, rather than direct, the curriculum at ACS Athens. Students learn beyond typical textbook requirements and strengthen higher level thinking skills. In addition to the texts listed, teachers frequently draw upon primary sources (including guest speakers or performers), library/media, online resources, computer software, trade books and literature to enhance the curriculum. Resources are provided to all students by their classroom teachers and accessible through Moodle, the school's learning management system (see below for details). All books loaned to students will be returned to the teacher at the conclusion of each course. Students who withdraw from school should return all resources before their records can be cleared. If a student fails to return books or damages them, there will be a fee to replace the resource.
JUNIOR KINDERGARTEN AND KINDERGARTEN AT ACS ATHENS
Conscious Cubs The ACS Athens Early Childhood mascot serves as a role model who will help our youngest students grasp the complex concepts of the ACS Athens school philosophy in a child-relatable manner. In his fun-loving approach he will communicate ACS’s three R’s (Respect, Responsible, and Ready) and define the profile traits of an ACS Athens graduate. Conscious Cub is a large friendly bear who will help our students develop conscious citizens traits from the early years. 9
