Exploring Great Works
The beautiful, light-filled Westminster Library houses an impressive collection of high-quality books tailored to all age and interest levels. Students, faculty, and staff may visit the library and check out materials. The library collection fully supports the school’s curriculum and is built upon values attendant on a classical education.
Library Time
The mission of the library is to help instill the love of books and reading in all the children. Each week, students in grades K – 8 visit our beautiful, well-stocked library. In grades K – 6, students benefit from a library curriculum delivered throughout the year. Topics include types of books, how they are organized, authors and illustrators, various kinds of libraries, and library and online research skills. In all grades, students have time to peruse the library collection and borrow books. The librarian also works in coordination with classroom teachers to highlight books that support specific topics in the academic curriculum.
Student Resource Center
Our Student Resource Center (SRC) offers support to students in many different ways. Primarily, we focus on reading and writing skills. Our students receive highly individualized instruction that may include reading comprehension skills, vocabulary development, spelling strategies, writing skills, phonics and phonemic awareness lessons, and fluency development. Our resource teachers work as a liaison between the classroom teachers and parents to ensure that a child enrolled in the resource program is having his or her needs met. The classroom teachers and the resource teachers work closely together to monitor the development of each child.
The SRC uses a research-based reading program that assesses each child and a companion tutorial that instructs him or her on an individualized level. This ensures that even if a student is working below grade-level on any given skill, he or she will get practice with that skill to eventually work on grade-level and beyond. Resource students have access to this program at home, so lessons may be completed at school or at home. We also provide support for math, and for those students who are looking for additional math challenges, we have an enrichment program for students to work on at home as well.
Language arts enrichment classes are also given to students in grades 3 – 6 who are recommended by their classroom teacher for creative writing and additional reading work. Enrichment classes meet several times each month, and our students are often published in a local anthology of excellent children’s literature.
The Resource Center will help students with essay prep sessions and will provide support for our students when they apply to high schools in eighth grade. The SRC also administers our standardized tests.
The Student Resource Center is open daily from 7:45 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Student schedules may be viewed through Edline, and they may change from week to week. Reports are given at the beginning of the year for each student (or when a student is admitted to the program), and end-of-year reports are also given.
Technology
Westminster’s carefully calibrated technology program recognizes the primary educational importance of live teacher/student interaction as well as the need for young students to gain independent mastery of basic skills without reliance on a computer. In 3rd and 4th grades, students are introduced to technology usage through classroom smart-board activities and book searches using the on-line library card catalog. (Web-connected Starboards are active in all classrooms K-8.) They also begin to learn how to responsibly navigate the internet, as teachers provide links to enriching, subject-related sites for home usage under parental supervision. Technology instruction is included in the academic schedule in grades 5 – 6. At this level, weekly classes provide instruction and practice in basic computer operation, keyboarding, word processing, Internet safety, and Internet research. Technology skills are integrated with the academic program through class assignments. The technology program is continued in the upper grades.
Technology instruction is included in the academic schedule in grades 7 – 8. The curriculum at this level continues to develop keyboarding skills and facility with Google Drive, Microsoft Word, Power Point, and Excel. Technology skills are integrated with academic assignments to provide many opportunities for application of knowledge and skills.
