CURRICULUM
By providing a well-rounded education and stressing the values of moral responsibility, self-control, social interaction, cooperative skills, honesty, good manners, good citizenship, and good sportsmanship, we prepare our students to meet the challenges of higher education and thrive in the complex world that they will face as adults.
We have had a wonderful experience at WPL the past 5 years! The quality of the education is tremendous! Our kids are thriving academically and socially- all credit to the teachers who bring their best to school everyday and the supportive tight parent community who shares the same family values as we do!
It’s a privilege to drop our kids off every morning, because we know we are offering them the best education and they are spending their day with high quality individuals, all while learning about Christ!
Emily C., Parent
West Portal Lutheran is an academically focused school, and we challenge our students to strive for excellence in a nurturing Christ-centered atmosphere. It is our goal to have WPLS students prepared to meet the challenges of the best San Francisco Bay Area high schools and possess the foundational skills needed for college or university education and ultimately the student’s chosen vocation.
We offer a curriculum that will enable our students to develop creative and critical thinking skills, interpersonal collaboration, and effective oral and written communication. We emphasize Christian teachings and seek to build caring citizens.
Based on the California State Standards, the school curriculum includes English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and World Languages (Grade 4-8 Mandarin and Spanish). Music, Art, Physical Education, and Design, Innovation, and Technology classes are also taught to enrich and balance the students’ academic experience. Students receive religious teaching through study of the Bible and Luther’s Catechism.
At West Portal Lutheran, we believe in not just doing well, but being well. Thus, we place a direct focus on social emotional learning as a part of our curriculum, which allows our students a greater understanding of self in relationship with others. Social emotional learning builds relationships and skills that promote a healthy well being and our values of love, grace, integrity, and respect.
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Religion
Our school uses the Enduring Faith curriculum to grow our students in the Christian faith across all grades by increasing biblical literacy and application of Lutheran doctrine.
Reading
Our elementary school uses Heggerty, designed to use explicit phonic instruction for early literacy and a love of reading in children. Grades 3-8 use novel studies for deeper learning.
Writing
Our school teaches a process approach to writing in different genres along with explicit writing strategies to build a student’s writing identity.
Mathematics
Research shows that the Saxon Math curriculum consistently yields increased retention, higher test scores, and sustained performance in higher-level mathematics.
Science
Students will learn about physical, life, and earth sciences through Nancy Larson Science (Grades K-5) and Savvas (Grades 6-8)
Social Studies
IMPACT: California Social Studies by McGraw-Hill is a dynamic, student-centered program designed to inspire students to make an impact on the world around them.
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Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, SEL is the "process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions."(CASEL Our school uses bible based SEL curriculum Friendzy and Habitudes (Middle School).
Physical Education
The physical education program is designed to teach students developmentally appropriate skills, while teaching them rules of games, fair play, and social emotional development.
ELEMENTARY EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY
We believe it is an exciting task to teach kindergarten through third graders as they learn to read so that they can read to learn! It is our goal to provide students with a solid foundation in the basics of religion, language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. This is accomplished through a variety of age-appropriate learning experiences, including hands-on activities, which create a love for learning that will last students throughout their lives.
Special attention is given to the development of phonics, reading skills, reading comprehension, language and writing skills. Teachers use multi-faceted approaches to ensure that children with different learning styles and developmental rates are consistently motivated to read and write at their highest level.
MIDDLE SCHOOL EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY
Students in the Middle School are in transition from childhood to young adulthood. Thus, these are special, exciting years as students experience sudden bursts of growth, not only in their bodies, but also in their spiritual, academic and social lives. West Portal Lutheran strives to make these years stimulating, productive and enjoyable. We desire to be in a partnership with the student and their family as they travel through these interesting, and often, challenging years.
Our curriculum consists of core subjects, enriched with additional courses to meet the needs of our students. The core subjects include: Religion courses which are Bible based courses studying our salvation from a historical perspective and making it come alive through a relational perspective; Language Arts where students study literature and composition; Mathematics, where courses are offered through Algebra 1, thereby allowing students to complete Calculus in high school; Science, where courses are integrated and laboratory based; and Social Studies, where 6th grade studies Geography and Ancient Civilizations, 7th grade studies Geography and Medieval to Early Modern Times, and 8th grade focuses on American History.
The Middle School also includes special classes such as Mandarin or Spanish, Physical Education, Classroom Music, and Technology. Students in grades 4-8 have the opportunity to play in a handbell choir and/or orchestra.
With advanced work in all curricular areas, and strong standardized assessment results, we are at grade level or above and we use the MAP Growth test to determine academic growth.
MAP GROWTH TESTING
West Portal Lutheran uses NWEA's MAP Growth to measure achievement and growth using California State Standards in Reading, Language, Math, and Science. MAP Growth measures what students know and informs what they’re ready to learn next. By dynamically adjusting to each student’s responses, MAP Growth creates a personalized assessment experience that accurately measures performance. Timely, easy-to-use reports help teachers teach, students learn, and administrators lead. Testing our students multiple times each year allows us to track progress more closely to support each child according to their needs.