Academics
Academics Overview
International Education
International Schools provide students with linguistic skills, higher-order thinking skills, and a global perspective that will help them to contribute to, and succeed in, a 21st century world. International Schools help students engage in intellectually rigorous schoolwork and prepare them for college, career and life. International Schools help close both the academic achievement gap as well as the “global achievement gap”.
More information about International Education in Seattle Public Schools
Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
The CCSS are academic standards that have been develop nationally and adopted by most states. They represent specific academic skills in reading, writing, communication and mathematics that students should learn at each grade level.
Subject Areas
Mathematics
Seattle Public Schools believes in the brilliance of every child. Providing a diversity of learning experiences, sharing a diversity of ideas, and learning from a diversity of solutions allows all of us to uncover that brilliance and let each student shine.
enVision Mathematics is the K-8 math curriculum used by Seattle Public Schools. Realize is the online platform where students can access digital math materials and assignments. Realize can be accessed through the Clever app on student iPads or laptops. You can also access Clever and tech support at the Student & Family Portal.
Click here to learn about math and access family resources.
Language Arts
In 2016, Seattle Public Schools adopted English language arts instructional materials created by Center for the Collaborative Classroom for reading and writing instruction in grades K-5.
The District is currently in the process of selecting a new Language Arts curriculum. Please click here to learn more about the process. Concord is piloting a unit from Arts and Letters and a unit from Really Great Reading in our 2nd grade Dual Language class as part of the process. Whatever curriculum the District adopts will be put be in place District-wide at the beginning of the 2026-2027 school year.
Science
The adopted Seattle Public Schools K – 8 science curriculum is Amplify Science. The Amplify Science instructional model allows students to access their prior knowledge to connect past learning experiences to the present and emphasizes the use of evidence-based reasoning for scientific explanations and engineering solutions in order to communicate recommendations to address real world problems.
Each unit is constructed as a compelling storyline which begins by engaging learners in a puzzling, relevant scientific phenomenon or engineering problem. To learn more about the unit phenomena and storylines for K – 5th click here.
Social Studies
The Social Studies department supports students, families, and teachers in learning about the world in the contexts of History, Economics, Geography, and Civics. Social Studies skills are used to build new understanding and utilize background knowledge to construct meaning and share complex ideas in these four areas.
Connecting to Since Time Immemorial (STI)
The state-developed and SPS-approved Since Time Immemorial curriculum is a crucial part of social studies education in Seattle Public Schools (SPS) and Washington state.
State law mandates the teaching of local tribal history in Washington’s K–12 classrooms. Moreover, the Since Time Immemorial curriculum takes an integrated approach so that teachers can teach this content within social studies units aligned to state standards and, where appropriate, build toward successful completion of OSPI-developed classroom-based assessments (CBAs).
For more information click here.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) helps children and adults understand their feelings, set goals, build positive relationships, and make responsible choices. Learning these skills helps kids do well in school and in life.
Students learn social emotional skills throughout the school day in four main ways:
- Creating safe and welcoming schoolwide environments
- Fostering a sense of belonging through classroom practices
- Integrating academics and social emotional skills
- Teaching SEL lessons
The curriculum we pull from is Second Step. We also look at Child Protection in K-3rd, and Bullying Prevention in 4th and 5th grade.
Assessments
At Concord International we use multiple measures to assess student performance in school. We believe a single test should never be the sole judge of a student’s academic skills. Some measures we use are teacher observation, class work, portfolios, running records and standardized and classroom based assessments. The state and district also require testing and an explanation of those tests appear below.
Smarter Balanced (SBAC)
The SBAC is the state’s exam for students in grades 3-5. Its purpose is to assess a student’s progress in certain subject areas. Third, fourth, and fifth graders are tested in math and English Language Arts. Fifth graders are tested in science, still using the MSP. The assessment window is from Mid-March to early June. We will be sending out a schedule as it gets closer.
More information about the SBAC.
Measures of Academic Performance (MAP)
The MAP is an online test given to all students in grades K-5. Its purpose is to assess a student’s academic growth in reading and math. The test is given three times a year: fall, winter, late spring. Progress reports for each student are generated and are available on the Source. Scores from the MAP test are also included in the student’s report card and available at Parent-Teacher conferences.
WA Kids – Kindergarten
The WA kids assessment is started during Kindergarten Jumpstart and completed throughout September and October by the kindergarten teachers. Students are assessed in a variety of areas: social/emotional, physical, cognitive, language, literacy and mathematics. This information helps teachers tailor their instruction to meet the individual needs of the students in their classes.
Fountas and Pinnell Reading Assessment
This reading assessment is a one on one assessment given to students to assess their reading and comprehension level. It allows teachers to individualize instruction for students. This is done several times a year to monitor student growth.