Fall is in Full Swing at PacPrep: Get a Glimpse Inside
Check out what our current students have been up to already this semester. From carefully-crafted, unique and engaging electives to examples of digital and physical materials, fall is off to a wonderful start!
While PacPrep offers rolling admissions, many of our students began their semesters on our traditional academic calendar in August. That means they’re about six weeks in, and the learning engine is seriously picking up steam. We’ve written at length about how our teachers use a creative, engaging mix of physical and digital materials to make the learning experience leap through the screen. Parents still want to know exactly what this looks like in practice, so below you’ll find a snapshot of a few of our current students’ sessions.
Physical materials are a critical tool for our students in math. Through the document camera, this teacher can see exactly what her student is doing when moving around tens and ones base ten blocks.
Our younger students need to write, in addition to using a mouse or keyboard. PacPrep provided this 1st grader a handheld whiteboard to complete this math exercise, which the teacher can see when he holds it up to the screen in a burst of pride.
Showing work happens in real time, so teachers can immediately identify thinking or calculation errors. No need to complete 40 math problems to check for understanding! Once the student fully grasps a concept, they can move on.
For our older students, working on writing/composition skills can really be enhanced by sharing a Google doc. Working in real time, these teachers and students collaborate on grammar, sentence structure and the elements of a strong thesis statement.
In addition to our core academic courses, we’ve been cooking up (quite literally!) some truly unique electives this semester. The sky is really the limit in terms of designing a syllabus to speak to a student’s particular interest.
One of our 7th graders loves to cook, so a customized course provides a nice break from academics and enhances family connection in the process.
Learning Objectives:
Plan, shop for, and make recipes
Research cooks and follow their recipes
Design and prepare a customized meal for a loved one
Reflect on interests and set goals for "leveling up" those skills
Explore food from places around the world
Utilize new cooking techniques
Keep record of go-to meals and recipes
Make a budget-friendly meal
Another 7th grader wants to be a video game designer. Our team created an enrichment course in coding, focusing on multiple programming languages to create a versatile skill set. The course is project-based, beginning with designing an interactive game of chess.
Learning Objectives
Understand general elements of program design (planning, allocation, and execution)
Develop and practice good documentation habits
Write and work effectively with pseudo-code
Obtain proficiency with C++ syntax and logic structure
Acquire a systematic approach to troubleshooting bugs
Implement modular programming (functions, routines, classes, etc.)
Improve program efficiencies through loops and pointers
Know how to find resources to support independent learning
One of our 12th graders is a gifted artist, who has taken several art courses with PacPrep over the years. Her current class is Figure Drawing, which supports her goal of becoming a Fashion Designer. In this class she will work with the teacher to creatively craft her portfolio, which is a critical and quite time-consuming portion of college applications.
Learning Objectives
Recognize the ability to depict the human form from observation
Plan and create 5 -10 observational drawings that can be included in for college application portfolio
Illustrate both verbally and visually fashion designs and their inspiration
Analyze artistic work by others
Relate artistic ideas and works with context to deepen understanding
Generate, conceptualize, organize, and develop artistic ideas and work
Refine, complete, and analyze artistic work
Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work
Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art
We’re so proud to show off the dynamic, energetic start our students are off to this fall. This is often the time of year when families realize that their child’s current academic setup is not adequately meeting their needs. There is no time like the present to contact us to discuss what we can do to support your child holistically. Hope to talk with you soon!