The NOVA faculty is skillful at teaching in ways that accommodate different student learning styles and skill levels. Developmentally appropriate hands-on activities, individual, group and whole class instruction, projects, demonstrations, experiments, role playing, performances, exhibits and field trips are all used in elementary school. Students receive instruction in Literacy, Numeracy and Integrated Studies daily. They get weekly instruction in Art, Music, Dance and Physical Education, as well as Macedonian Language or Macedonian Culture and Language depending on language proficiency.
Meaningful home learning that reinforces the lessons taught during the day, and connects to the overall theme that students are learning about is assigned. The amount and complexity of home learning is appropriate for each grade level. Students are also expected to read every night.
NOVA Elementary School program fosters an educational environment in which children are encouraged to work towards high standards of academic and personal achievement through integration of the US Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for Literacy and Numeracy, and the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) for Integrated Studies.
The IPC provides the framework educators and students require to facilitate and embed an elementary school education which nurtures and develops global citizens. Literacy and numeracy skills and concepts form the foundation of the educational process at the elementary level.
To ensure that every child learns to read, write and spell successfully, our teachers teach using the research-based, instructional strategies of Reading and Writing Workshop and Word Study which were designed by the Teachers College Reading & Writing Project at Columbia University. Reading and writing workshops are deliberately designed to offer a simple and predictable environment so that the teacher can focus on the complex work of observing students' progress and teaching into their needs.
To ensure that every child’s understanding, confidence and love of math grows, our teachers use hands-on activities, visualization, pictorial representations and strategies of Math in Focus®: Singapore Math® which ensures every student’s ability to master concepts and apply mathematics. Leveraging global best practices and research to create a unique approach based on powerful visual models, engaging hands-on activities, and a consistent pedagogical approach, this solution empowers students to develop the critical-thinking skills, positive attitudes, and confidence needed to set the stage for achievement.
