Vista Curriculum
Vista’s Academic curriculum, the Core Knowledge Sequence, provides excellence and equity for all children and is built on the simple, yet powerful underlying premise that knowledge builds on knowledge (www.coreknowledge.org). Nearly all of our most important goals for education—greater reading comprehension, the ability to think critically and solve problems, even high test scores—are a function of the depth and breadth of our knowledge. Although current events and technology are constantly changing, there is a body of lasting knowledge and skills that form the core of a strong Kindergarten through Grade 8 curriculum. Explicit identification of what children should learn at each grade level ensures a coherent approach to building knowledge across all grade levels, making efficient and effective use of instructional time. Every Vista student will learn the fundamentals of science, basic principles of government, important events in history, essential elements of mathematics, and widely acknowledged masterpieces of art, music and literature from around the world.
Vista will use the Core Knowledge Sequence; correlate it with the Utah Core (and newly adopted Common Core) to give students a robust education in Academics, Technology and the Arts. Each student will learn about the arts and their place in history. Each student will gain an appreciation for the arts, as they study and perform. Vista’s emphasis will be to teach students to use technology as a tool for learning, with the expectation that all students will develop a high level of proficiency through required Computer Information Technology courses which build on each other year after year. Highly trained teachers will utilize technology to enhance student achievement by using technology for academic differentiation and for presentation of ideas, while teaching students to use technology to solidify and advance learning.
Vista School sees the arts not as a peripheral part of the curriculum, but as an essential part of the knowledge all children should learn in the elementary grades. Early instruction in the arts provides many opportunities to sing, dance, listen to music, play, act, read and write poetry, draw, paint, and create objects. Equally important, children are exposed to fine paintings, great music, and other inspiring examples of art. As children progress in their knowledge and competencies, they can begin to learn more about the methods and terminology of the different arts, and become familiar with an ever wider range of great artists and acknowledged masterworks. Through attaining a basic knowledge of the arts, children are not only better prepared to understand and appreciate the arts, but also to communicate their ideas, feelings, and judgments to others. A good understanding of the arts grows out of at least three modes of knowledge—creative, historical, and analytical. Vista’s study of the arts embraces all three modes with special emphasis on creativity and active participation.
All subjects taught at Vista are connected in a vertical curriculum that creates a rhythm, a sequencing that amplifies from one year to the next, providing students with a well rounded, solid educational foundation.
The following courses will be offered as FREE Optional Enrichment Classes (OEC) from 3:05 pm – 3:55 pm: Yoga, Ballet, Newspaper, Math Counts, Vista Rising Stars (by audition only, fees will apply), Piano, Violin, Choir & Winds.
Vista will use the Core Knowledge Sequence; correlate it with the Utah Core (and newly adopted Common Core) to give students a robust education in Academics, Technology and the Arts. Each student will learn about the arts and their place in history. Each student will gain an appreciation for the arts, as they study and perform. Vista’s emphasis will be to teach students to use technology as a tool for learning, with the expectation that all students will develop a high level of proficiency through required Computer Information Technology courses which build on each other year after year. Highly trained teachers will utilize technology to enhance student achievement by using technology for academic differentiation and for presentation of ideas, while teaching students to use technology to solidify and advance learning.
Vista School sees the arts not as a peripheral part of the curriculum, but as an essential part of the knowledge all children should learn in the elementary grades. Early instruction in the arts provides many opportunities to sing, dance, listen to music, play, act, read and write poetry, draw, paint, and create objects. Equally important, children are exposed to fine paintings, great music, and other inspiring examples of art. As children progress in their knowledge and competencies, they can begin to learn more about the methods and terminology of the different arts, and become familiar with an ever wider range of great artists and acknowledged masterworks. Through attaining a basic knowledge of the arts, children are not only better prepared to understand and appreciate the arts, but also to communicate their ideas, feelings, and judgments to others. A good understanding of the arts grows out of at least three modes of knowledge—creative, historical, and analytical. Vista’s study of the arts embraces all three modes with special emphasis on creativity and active participation.
All subjects taught at Vista are connected in a vertical curriculum that creates a rhythm, a sequencing that amplifies from one year to the next, providing students with a well rounded, solid educational foundation.
The following courses will be offered as FREE Optional Enrichment Classes (OEC) from 3:05 pm – 3:55 pm: Yoga, Ballet, Newspaper, Math Counts, Vista Rising Stars (by audition only, fees will apply), Piano, Violin, Choir & Winds.
