Elementary Program: 1st - 5th Grades

Standards and Curriculum:

Nesbit School follows California State and Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary District guidelines. The school district has adopted content standards and Multiple Measures assessments. These assessments allow teachers, students, and parents to see where individuals are in reaching and/or exceeding District Standards. The measures will determine whether the student has successfully learned grade-level standards. The results of these measures will enable our teachers to teach to your child's individual needs and strengths. Copies of the State content Standards can be accessed at the links provided below. 

• Current California Standards for Language Arts

• Current California Standards for Language Arts

• General Information about California’s Common Core State Standards

• California’s Common Core State Standards- Language Arts, Science, Social Studies

• California’s Common Core State Standards - Mathematics

English Language Arts:

At Nesbit, our approach to literacy is rooted in a Balanced Literacy framework that supports every child in becoming a confident and capable reader and writer. Instruction is carefully designed to include all essential components of literacy: phonics and phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

In grades K–2, foundational reading skills are supported through the Wilson Language Fundations program. This structured phonics-based program builds early literacy skills by developing students’ understanding of sound-letter relationships, decoding, and spelling patterns.

Across all grade levels, our English Language Arts instruction is guided by the Units of Study in Reading and Writing from the Reading & Writing Project at Mossflower. This workshop-based model supports students as they move through genre-based units that build their capacity to read and write across a variety of text types.

Each workshop begins with a focused, whole-class mini-lesson that introduces a specific strategy. Students then apply these strategies during independent reading or writing time, while teachers provide targeted support through individual conferences and small-group instruction. Mid-workshop teaching points and end-of-session partner sharing give students opportunities to reflect on their learning and grow through collaboration.

Our teachers engage in ongoing professional learning and coaching from a Literacy Staff Developer to ensure instruction remains rigorous, responsive, and aligned with best practices in literacy education.

• Reading and Writing Units of Study 

• Wilson Language Fundations Phonics K-2)

Mathematics:

Depth, coherence, and rigor are key in our math standards, and our instruction focuses on conceptual understanding, procedural fluency and accuracy, and application. Our elementary math curriculum is Math Expressions. In addition to content standards for math at each grade level, we incorporate the Standards for Mathematical Practice at all grades. These include making sense of and persevering through problems, using appropriate tools, modeling, precision, constructing viable arguments, making use of pattern and structure. The Standards for Mathematical Practice describe how mathematicians should engage with content as they mature and develop expertise. 

Science:

Science is central to the lives of all people. A high-quality science education means that students develop an in-depth understanding of content and key skills—communication, collaboration, inquiry, problem solving, and flexibility—that will serve them throughout their educational and professional lives. The State of California has shifted to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) with a framework for core content in each grade level, cross cutting concepts that span all grades, and science and engineering practices. Twig Science is our Elementary Curriculum. 

Social Studies:

Social Studies Alive from the Teacher's Curriculum Institute (TCI) is our social studies curriculum. It employs a standards-based inquiry approach to engage students in examining multiple perspectives and primary sources. It incorporates voices of historically under-represented groups and simulations that immerse students in the content.  

Physical Education:

All students receive PE instruction through classroom teachers and/or physical education specialists. In 1st and 2nd grade, the PE program focuses on basics and introduction to games and sports. In 3rd through 5th grade students learn to push the students out of their comfort zone and try to grow personally. In all grades our staff takes mastery approach that focuses on effort and learning. Mistakes are okay and something to learn from. 

Music and Art:

Students at Nesbit experience the fullness of visual and performing arts through programming offered by School Force and BRSSD. LEAP Art and Music is offered at all grade levels. 

Social Emotional Learning & Wellness:

• Second Step (K-3)

• Wayfinder (4-5)