Welcome
to Hominy Valley Elementary. We are happy to have you visit our school
and excited to tell you about the many educational opportunities that
our school and district have to offer.
The
teachers and staff at Hominy Valley are dedicated to providing the best
education to all students. Our teachers are highly qualified to teach
the subjects of which they are responsible. We follow curriculum
guidelines provided by the state of North Carolina and the district of
Buncombe County Schools. Our curriculum is rigorous and conceptual-based. Students are provided intervention and enrichment time daily
based on various types of assessments in reading, math, and writing. All
staff at Hominy Valley work together to ensure that every student is
achieving and will have the necessary skills to be career- and college-ready.
The math program that we use is Investigations in Number, Data and Space. This
program is a constructivist approach to mathematics that enables our
students to construct meaning to the areas of the content. We facilitate
and guide our students in a manner that fosters deep conceptual
understanding of the content as they develop their own procedures for
solving problems. We stress that there are multiple ways to solve
problems. This encourages students to understand the meaning of the
mathematics, rather than memorization of a procedure.
Our
reading program is research-based and is a Balanced Literacy Approach.
Students are formally assessed several times throughout the year. In
grades K-3, students are assessed individually using a state-adopted
assessment system. Students are then provided instruction to meet their
needs using reading text that meets their individual ability level. The
data gathered from the individual assessments and from informal
assessments from the teacher is also used to decide what areas students
will be given intervention or enrichment instruction in the
Intervention/Enrichment block of the day. In grade 4, students are
assessed formally three times a year using the Benchmark Assessment
System. Teachers use the data from these assessments to appropriately
place students in reading text. Teachers in grade 4 continually
assess informally in accordance with guidelines from the county to
ensure that students are growing in their reading capacity.
Within
the Balanced Literacy approach, students read in small groups with the
teacher, they read text independently that is appropriate for their
reading ability, participate in Teacher Directed Reading, and
Interactive Read Aloud. Within this program, students are reading
throughout the day, being exposed to grade-level text as well as text
that are appropriate for the student, either above or below grade level.
Writing and spelling are
important components within our curriculum. They are incorporated
throughout the day in all subjects. Direct writing instruction is
provided daily following the Writer’s Workshop model.
Students are expected to do various types of writing to enable them to
write effectively and become career- and college-ready. In grades K-1,
spelling is taught through the program of Fundations.
Students work with letter recognition, letter sounds, and letter
patterns. Letter formation is also a key component of this program.
Students in grades 2-4 use Words Their Way for spelling instruction.
This program allows teachers to identify spelling weaknesses and
strengths and helps to individualize the spelling program for the
students. Students are placed in groups according to identified needs.
This research–based program incorporates phonics, vocabulary, and
spelling instruction.
Science
and Social Studies are concept-based and taught weekly through the
reading program, the computer labs and research assignments, and through
designated times throughout the week for hands-on investigations.
Special
services are provided for students with disabilities, programs for the
academically gifted students, and ESL students. All student needs are
addressed through tutoring, counseling, and mentoring.
Hominy
Valley follows the curriculum of the North Carolina State
Standards as set forth by the state of North Carolina. More information
can be found on the NCDPI website:
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/
We
want to thank you for taking an interest in our school and we welcome
the opportunity to answer any further questions that you may have or to
be of any further assistance.