ACADEMICS

Stevenson Elementary School serves students in grades K-4.  Our school has been an authorized International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) since 2010.

The primary goal of the PYP is to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people who help create a better and more peaceful world through action.  PYP provides a framework for organizing curriculum and delivering instruction.  All grade levels focus their curriculum around the same six themes of global significance.  Themes include: 

• Who we are
• Where we are in place and time
• How we express ourselves
• How the world works
• How we organize ourselves
• Sharing the planet

Our reading and writing instruction is grounded in Structured Literacy, an explicit, systematic, and cumulative approach to language development aligned directly with the Minnesota READ Act and Minnesota ELA standards. We ensure all K–4 students receive foundational skills through explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, systematic phonics, decoding, spelling, and word recognition. As students progress, instruction targets vocabulary development, sentence structure, and comprehension strategies using high-quality informational and literary texts. By utilizing evidence-based Structured Literacy practices, we ensure that every student builds the skills necessary to read at or above grade level.

Our K–4 math instruction prioritizes mathematical rigor by maintaining an equal intensity on conceptual understanding, procedural skills, and real-world application. Our curriculum centers on developing students who are active sense-makers and problem solvers, structuring daily lessons around Minnesota’s Math Standards. We ensure our young learners don't just "do" math; they build a deep mathematical identity, learning to confidently analyze and navigate the world around them. 

For questions on academic standards and curriculum, please contact our Director of Academics and Innovation, Amy Cochran at 763-502-5005.