Curriculum Guide Sabot has a different approach to education, one that empowers the innate curiosity of every student. Our Reggio-inspired approach for preschool through Grade 8 is unique to Richmond and is framed using the Sabot Five Rs – Research, Representation, Reflection, Reach, and Relationship. These Rs are the fundamental principles guiding Sabot’s approach and result in a Culture of Engagement. They are not an alternative curriculum; they are, instead, a way of approaching the curriculum and, most importantly, a method of learning how to learn. They guide us in fueling children’s curiosity about the world, igniting their passions, and helping them to experience the joy of discovery and understanding.
Our Commitments Diversity, Equity & Inclusivity
Central to a Sabot education is the understanding and exploration of different experiences and voices. We emphasize multiple perspectives. By doing so, students are better able to understand and empathize with a wide range of people, beliefs, and communities. Additionally, they are able to more deeply reflect on their own thinking and view of the world.
Social-Emotional Development & Growth Mindset Social-emotional learning is a part of the everyday experience and is considered foundational. Our faculty support the developmental needs of students as well as address specific issues that arise (e.g. conflict resolution, handling responsibility, stress reduction). In the Lower and Middle Schools, our school counselor explicitly addresses the skills that students rely on to develop socially and emotionally. Individual and group short-term counseling is available for students who need support at school (e.g. grief and loss, study skills, friendship skills).
Self portrait by Caroline S., Grade 1
Sabot at Stony Point
Preschool
Our Preschool provides a rich and stimulating setting for learning. At every moment of the day, children are pondering ideas, asking questions, investigating materials, creating stories, and solving problems as well as exploring relationships and learning to negotiate conflicts. Teachers and classroom environments offer new experiences, ideas, and a wide range of media for expression and communication. All of this takes place within the context of play, where experimentation and manipulation of real materials allow children’s imagination and invention to take flight.
Research: Sabot preschoolers investigate the world with curious and open minds. Provocations: Teachers often create provocations – intriguing objects, novel materials, or unexpected events – that pique the children’s curiosity and spark questions and analytical thinking. Whether deliberate or accidental, provocations serve as points of entry to and crystallize research. Scaffolding: Scaffolding provides just the amount of assistance needed in a given situation and is carefully calibrated. It is also temporary; as a child gains more understanding and skill, support is pulled back until the child can succeed independently. This approach continues throughout a child’s entire Sabot journey.
Representation: Sabot preschoolers make their thinking visible using their “hundred languages.” Materials of All Kinds: Our classrooms are filled with openended building materials, art supplies, natural objects, and tools that feed children’s curiosity and encourage exploration and experimentation. The Hundred Languages: When children have access to different media and modes of expression, they can develop the strengths that come most naturally. As children become adept at using a particular medium or mode of representation, we say they have acquired a new language.
Reflection: Sabot preschoolers transform their new ideas and perspectives into learning. You will see some combination of these distinctive aspects in every classroom, every day. • Asking Questions: Children are encouraged to generate questions of themselves and others; teachers challenge and focus children’s inquiry with questions. • Solving Problems: Problems are placed in front of children with the expectation that effort and safe risk will lead to solutions. • Innovating & Imagining: These strategies are encouraged
by giving children open-ended materials and by supporting playful exploration and narrative. • Theory-making: Children are invited to share their theories and then to test them by seeking feedback from classmates and teachers. • Creating Plans: Children are asked to slow down and look closely at their own thinking by drafting plans for their work.
Reach: Sabot preschoolers take responsible risk and embrace challenge in order to seek continuous improvement. Phase-in: Children enter the school in small groups to learn and internalize the subtle expectations teachers have, which allow children the joyous freedom you see in their playful inquiry. Children’s Symbols: Selecting a symbol to represent themselves invites young children into a culture of literacy where understanding the use of symbols is the very first step. Note System: Our unique system of note-writing supports young learners in grasping the fact that words are functional – they carry meaning and have purpose. Stop Signs: The use of stop signs in the preschool serves as a visible reminder (and an early sight word) to support children in assuming responsibility for their own behavior.
Relationship: Children are part of a community at Sabot. Individual Connections: Good relationships are not only the foundation of children’s success in life but critical to their work with their classmates. Circles and Small Group Collaboration: Daily classroom circles and small groups help cement children’s sense of belonging to our learning community. Children often work on projects in small groups formed around shared interests. They gain experience listening to and understanding others’ perspectives and synthesizing them with their own. Negotiations: Teachers support children learning to discuss and find a way through difficult situations. Classroom Structure and Responsibilities: Teachers set expectations for procedures and behaviors that encourage children to take responsibility (in developmentally appropriate ways) for the school environment and community. Responsibilities contribute to children’s sense of belonging and build confidence and independence. Partnership with Parents: We regard parents as partners who help us get to know their children and support their learning. Parents are encouraged to participate, as they are able, in the daily routines of the preschool as classroom readers and forest walk volunteers, among other things. sabotatstonypoint.org
Schoolwide Dynamic Features Umbrella Project
Every year, the Sabot community undertakes a schoolwide exploration which, like an umbrella, arcs to gather us all (students, faculty, and families) in collaboration as we explore a big idea. The topics are intentionally broad, sometimes conceptual (time, relationship, reflection), and sometimes media-focused (tinkering, music, sound).
Project Work Students are given time, attention, resources, and teacher guidance to undertake extended projects and investigations with an emphasis on collaboration and the co-construction of knowledge and meaning. The projects develop out of the students’ interests, ensuring that the process of learning is both purposeful and meaningful. Teachers scaffold students as they define goals, identify needs, and solve problems. In the Middle School, students explore inquiry questions in each grade. The questions are open-ended and allow for the class to dive deeper into the areas that resonate with them. These questions incorporate essential understandings in
PRESCHOOL
K
Science, Math, History/Social Studies, and Language Arts and drive our curriculum. Our students develop theories and cognizance as they engage with primary and secondary sources, differing perspectives, labs, and opportunities to complete field study and action research. Students have opportunities to present their thinking using the languages of the studio, frequently with feedback from an authentic audience and sometimes from experts in the field. Parents and members of the wider community are often invited to join our students for discussions, give tours of their places of work, or mentor groups of students. This community engagement and partnership with parents is a paramount piece of the Sabot program.
Studio The studio is more than a physical space; it is a mindset that affirms the value of children’s ideas and empowers them to realize their projects. Integration of the arts and design thinking fuels all investigations and subject areas. Children can visit the studio when they need more specialized materials and support from the studio teachers in order to GRADE 1
GRADE 2
GRADE 3
Umbrella Project Project Work Studio Portfolios, Self- & Group Reflection, Feedback Social-Emotional Development & Growth Mindset A Culture of Numeracy
Mathematics: Everyday Math
A Culture of Literacy
Literacy & Language Arts
Thinking Like a Scientist
Life Science, Physical Science, Earth Science, Engineering
Building Community Through Individual Strengths
Social Studies: Emergent Topics
Thinking Like a Historian: Primary resources
Appreciation for Family Cultures and Perspective-Taking Outdoor Education Sabot at Stony Point
Outdoor Education, Physical Education, Health
Thinking Like a Historian: Tools of interview, oral history, primary & secondary resources
develop and realize their ideas. These resources scaffold collaborative investigation and provide a laboratory for students to represent their understanding in various media, including music, drama, poetry, design, and tinkering.
they write reflections and complete Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences. In the Lower and Middle Schools, students are regularly asked to reflect on their work, focusing on the Habits of Mind. We also ask students to provide feedback to each other. Consistent feedback is offered to our students through a variety of forms, including group discussions, self-assessment, rubric-based feedback from the teacher and peers, formative and summative assessments, and conferences with the teacher.
Grades 4 & 5 participate in musical theater or the Richmond Ballet’s Minds in Motion in alternating years. Artists from the Greater Richmond community are frequently invited to support the inquiry questions that are a part of the Middle School curriculum.
Portfolios, Self- & Group Reflection, Feedback
Outdoor Education
Sabot’s approach to education incorporates a strong philosophy of reflection and self-evaluation. In the Preschool and Lower School, teachers document children’s thinking, and then children and teachers revisit these photos, videos, recordings, and transcriptions for direction, planning, challenging thinking, and inspiring new ideas.
We believe that a child’s understanding of all things natural begins with their love for the outdoors. Our outdoor education begins first on our 28-acre campus and the adjacent 106-acre Larus Park. Students hike through the forest, stopping to observe and play. Sabot students look to the outdoors as a catalyst for personal growth, teamwork, outdoor skills, and stewardship. Students may participate in field studies, studying the relationship between living things and their environment. They look for factors affecting living things, from natural cycles and relationships with other creatures to human influence.
The portfolio – a collection of each student’s most significant work – documents the evolving process of a student’s learning. Students, with teacher support, curate examples of their work in a digital portfolio throughout the year. Portfolios make visible the student’s learning and, in Lower and Middle School, are referenced by students as
GRADE 4
GRADE 5
GRADE 6
GRADE 7
GRADE 8
POTENTIAL GRADE 9 COURSE CREDIT
Umbrella Project Project Work Studio, Musical Theater or Minds in Motion
Studio, Exploratory
Portfolios, Self- & Group Reflection, Feedback Advisory: Social-Emotional Development & Growth Mindset Mathematics: Connected Mathematics
Algebra I
Language Arts: Reading & Writing, Speaking & Listening
Thinking Like a Historian: Historical fiction
Thinking Like a Historian: Source documents like the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
Life Science
Physical Science
Earth Science
American Studies
Global Studies
Civics & Economics
World Languages: Spanish
Earth Science
Spanish I or II
Outdoor Education, Physical Education, Health & Human Sexuality sabotatstonypoint.org
Kindergarten – Grade 8 World Languages
Health & Human Sexuality
Beginning in Grade 4, students take Spanish, where they are challenged to use their communication skills in real-life contexts to express opinions, give information, solve problems, and complete tasks. Language acquisition is contextualized and made relevant by incorporating culture, the arts, games, and projects. Graduating middle school students may be eligible for high school Spanish credit.
We believe that all children and adolescents deserve ageappropriate, accurate, and responsive information about their bodies and sexuality. Research suggests that education about the body and sexuality be approached with the same emphasis as other subjects students learn in school. Our health and human sexuality curriculum begins in Grade 4 and continues through Grade 8. It provides a safe environment in which students learn factual information regarding health and human sexuality and can ask questions and share concerns. We encourage families to engage in ongoing conversations with their children about their own family’s values and beliefs.
Physical Education We approach physical fitness as a lifelong endeavor where the goal is to cultivate skills, habits, interests, and intrinsic motivation for physical activity. Students engage in a range of sports and non-competitive activities that get them outdoors, moving, and having fun.
Lower School (K - Grade 5) Literacy & Language Arts
Science
The early years of language arts in the Lower School are devoted to developing and supporting literacy. In all grades, lessons are designed to cultivate a culture of reading and an understanding of writing as a process. The workshop approach encourages students to regard reading and writing as interrelated; they learn to use their reading to develop their writing skills and their writing as an avenue for understanding and appreciating the books they read. As we introduce literature, we recognize and celebrate diversity regarding race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, family structure, learning style, religious belief, political affiliation, and life experience, among others.
Students are naturally curious about the world around them and eager to know how it works. Students respond to authentic questions, develop and practice skills, and collaboratively construct understanding through processes based on the scientific method. Each year, choosing from the content areas of Life Science, Physical Science, Earth Science, and Engineering & Design, students address topics and research questions that are meaningful to the class.
Mathematics Our lower school math curriculum is a research-based, bestpractice curriculum. Expectations for students at each grade level are defined by the standards set forth by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The curriculum emphasizes computational fluency, reasoning about mathematical ideas, and strategic mathematical thinking. Students gain experience with important areas of mathematics, including numbers and operations, geometry, measurement, data, and early algebra.
Sabot at Stony Point
Social Studies An inquiry-based approach enables students to begin to understand and to be active participants in their worlds – in their families, classrooms, and the wider community. Students learn to understand their relationship to other people and to social, economic, and political institutions and to evaluate issues and decisions from multiple points of view. The approach emphasizes building skills for critical thinking, researching, productive problem solving, and the making of thoughtful decisions and judgments. In both Science and Social Studies, we cultivate empathy and intentionality through our pedagogy, inside the classroom and in our larger school community. We challenge our students to consider how privilege and bias influence our perceptions. We offer provocations that ignite a process of questioning of the status quo that currently exists in the world.
Middle School (Grades 6 - 8) Language Arts: Reading & Writing, Speaking & Listening
Students grow to see themselves as readers, writers, and critical thinkers, which engages and expands their capacity to read deeply, write frequently, speak boldly, and listen closely. Exploring the major genres of writing, students pre-write, draft, revise, and edit. The mechanics of writing and grammar are taught through creative, generative exercises and in the context of each student’s writing. Literature – creatively fictional or creatively factual – is explored both through inclass read-alouds and discussions and through students’ independent reading and reflection. Students develop as public speakers through presentations, debates, podcasts, and opportunities to ask questions and express their thinking. We intentionally cast a wide net when reading, writing, and thinking about life experiences, purposely including authors and perspectives from traditionally underrepresented groups.
Mathematics The Middle School math curriculum extends the development of students’ mathematical thinking begun in Lower School. Students explore key mathematical ideas and their interrelationships, often through problems that require them to think, plan, reason, compute, and evaluate. They gain fluency and facility with concepts, reasoning, and computation, and they learn to interpret and communicate information in graphic, numeric, symbolic, and verbal forms. Grade-level content and skills are aligned with standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Students who successfully complete the Middle School math program may be awarded a high school Algebra I credit.
Science Middle School science focuses on the processes and skills needed to construct new knowledge in the pursuit of sustainable innovation and environmental justice. We use basic science concepts as a structure on which to build competence in these scientific processes and skills. The curriculum challenges students to think like scientists. When faced with a question, they respond by evaluating the problem, obtaining and assessing available research, creating a testable hypothesis, conducting their own research, and analyzing the results to come to a personal, research-based conclusion. They must then be able to communicate their findings in written, verbal, or visual form – or a combination of all three. As part of our curriculum, we explore how science has been historically perceived or presented to marginalized communities. In
doing so, we are better able to understand the importance of history as a contributing aspect to scientific understanding. Our curriculum is guided by the National Research Council’s National Science Education standards. Students may be awarded Grade 9 credit for Earth Science.
Social Studies Students acquire study skills, research methods, foundations in geography, and a wide range of factual knowledge. They co-construct understandings of historical narratives; historical causality; and systems in context as well as the perspectives of many people, times, and cultures and their role in the larger world. This means highlighting voices that are often underrepresented, looking at historical oppression, and celebrating the joy of various cultures. Students apply their study skills and critical thinking to academic research, presentations, journalism, debates, podcasts, interviews, and more. Students seek out opportunities to engage their communities as citizens of Richmond and of the world.
Exploratory Students design and create an original, real-world independent project each trimester, cultivating their passions and remaining committed to the process. They curate and document their successes and challenges, receive peer feedback, and present their experience to a wider community. This provides a purposeful opportunity to discover, develop, and practice the Habits of Mind, which are essential to all learning – habits like inquisitiveness, innovation, and perseverance.
Advisory During advisory, students, with the support of a faculty member, strengthen relationships with each other and with their community of learners. Students have opportunities to negotiate relationships and connect with peers. It is also an opportunity for students to make decisions regarding stewardship within the Sabot community and outreach to the greater Richmond community. Using the Habits of Mind, students will determine the ways in which they learn, opportunities to extend their reach, and the best way to establish the practice of study skills and notetaking. Our students are encouraged to embrace their mistakes as they problem-solve and remain flexible when encountering obstacles. This growth mindset and self-agency is the hallmark of our program.
sabotatstonypoint.org
Green beans on the vine by Hope P., Kindergarten
A progressive school for children age two through eighth grade sabotatstonypoint.org • (804) 272-1341 • admissions@sabotatstonypoint.org