Serving grades 4-8, MCCPS promotes the integration of knowledge and its application to everyday life with integrated units based on essential questions and understanding goals. These units are an effective vehicle to ensure integration of knowledge across disciplines and application of knowledge to everyday life. At the conclusion of each 13-week trimester, all students are required to exhibit a variety of interdisciplinary exhibition projects as part of their academic evaluation. These projects are designed and developed by interdisciplinary teams of teachers to integrate knowledge from multiple disciplines, connect to real-life experiences, and cultivate essential skills and habits. Exhibition projects are geared toward enhancing academic success, encouraging productive attitudes, and developing habits of lifelong learning.
Integrated Projects
MCCPS students showcase their learning in a public exhibition of student project work that integrates important skills and content from the disciplines while addressing the relevant global theme. Many integrated projects incorporate the visual and performing arts as well as core skills and knowledge related to math, science, global studies, and/or language arts. Community service-learning is also integrated into the curriculum through project work, and many exhibition projects aim to connect disciplinary standards and benchmarks to the world outside of school.
Essential Habits
Essential habits are ways of being that all students should demonstrate in order to be effective citizens and lifelong learners even when no one's looking, regardless of the context. At MCCPS, the following Essential Habits run through the curriculum at all grade levels: Leadership, Perseverance, Problem Solving, and Initiative.
- Perseverance | I am responsible for my actions and the quality of my work. I demonstrate sustained effort despite challenges.
- Initiative | I identify a challenge or need, create a plan, and take action.
- Leadership | I listen to the ideas of others, make good choices, and lead by example.
- Integrity | I am honest and trustworthy. I treat people kindly.
- Problem-solving
- I identify and understand a problem, consider the best strategy, apply it, and evaluate the solution.
Enrichment
The MCCPS Enrichment Program is a daily 45-minute period in which parents, community volunteers, and staff work with students on a wide variety of projects and activities. The Enrichment Program began in the school’s first year as a means for parents to take an active role in the learning environment of their children and for students to learn from their extended local community. Since then, it has grown to become an integral component of the school’s core commitment to community partnerships.The Enrichment Program creates opportunities that connect the school with local community members. In addition to the learning gained from working on projects and participating in activities, students learn about themselves, enhance their skills and talents, and meet and work cooperatively with other members of their community. Parents and other community members have an opportunity to enhance the learning of the children. Community partnerships help create and maintain a healthy school community.