|
Koraes Elementary
School at a Glance
11025 S. Roberts Road
Palos Hills, IL 60465
Phone: 708.974.3402
Preschool – Ages 3-5
M-F 8:30-11:30 a.m.
Birthday Cutoff: October 1, 2005
Kindergarten
M-F 8:30-3:15 p.m.
Birthday Cutoff: October 1, 2003
Grades 1-8 Elementary School
Curriculum aligned with Illinois State
Standards - Fully accredited by the State of Illinois
Registration:
Begins February 1, 2008. School tours
available with appointment by calling school office.
· School
Open House for prospective parents to be held on Sunday,
March 2nd and Monday, March 3rd, 2008.
Enrollment:
Koraes enrolls new students on a first
come, first serve basis and reserves the right to limit
enrollment as needed.
· Forms
can be downloaded from our website at www.koraes.org., or
picked up in the school office.
· Transfer
into any grades welcome with transcripts and acceptable
student performance/behavior.
· Interview
and evaluation required with principal prior to approval for
transfer.
Our beliefs:
That our teachers, administration
and staff understand that our children come first,
therefore, all decisions will be based on what is best for
our children while providing a safe environment in which to
learn.
That we must not only
provide an integrated curriculum that ensures basic
competency development for all grades but one that
recognizes and allows flexibility based on the abilities and
development of all children. Technology is used as a tool
to enhance the learning process whenever possible. We
recognize and fully acknowledge that Koraes is not equipped
to care for children that have severe learning or severe
behavioral disabilities and pledge to direct parents to
appropriate resources within their own public school
district for help.
That a basic, solid
elementary school education gives each child more depth in
his/her core program of studies, enabling him/her to succeed
not only in his/her high school studies but throughout
his/her life as evidenced by the many success stories of our
graduates throughout the school’s 100 year history.
That with limited
resources our administration and teaching staff are more
individually accountable and produce greater results than
their public school counterparts. Our smaller class sizes
allow for more individual attention to both the student and
the parent. Using teaching techniques acquired through
continual staff development, our teachers are able to use
best practices and strategies in order to consistently
maintain above average achievement on the Iowa Standardized
Test Scores and teach our children to become lifelong
learners.
That the successful
interaction of family, school, and Church is a very subtle
yet very powerful and necessary environment for raising
stable, morally responsible, and well grounded children that
can adapt easily to situations, interact successfully with
others, make good solid decisions when necessary as well as
excel in their future studies and in life.
That we believe that for
productive learning to occur, the environment must be a
place where children are disciplined in a fair and
consistent manner.
That it is important at
an early age to teach children both the beliefs and
practices of their Orthodox faith so that before entering
our diverse society as high school teenagers, our Orthodox
practices have become their daily habits. This gives them a
subtle but distinct and significant advantage over other
children by helping to “anchor” and guide them spiritually
and morally from an early age through junior high. In this
way they mature into stronger, more responsible citizens.
That by exposing our
children at an early age to our Greek language, heritage and
culture we are exposing them to a type of diversity that
most children never experience. As 2nd and 3rd
generation immigrant families or parents that are new to our
Greek culture, learning and experiencing the culture behind
a foreign language makes acceptance of other ethnicities
easier for them as they grow up in our increasingly diverse
and global world. Training in the Greek Language at an early
age also assures that your child will excel in any foreign
language studies they choose to pursue in high school and
college.
That all families should
be able to attend our school regardless of financial
circumstance.
Our Faculty:
We have 14 teachers on staff full-time in
our day school. Our blend of many experienced
teachers together with newer graduates from teaching
programs allows us to deliver instruction that is
innovative, yet based on many solid traditional teaching
methods. Many of our teachers either have graduate degrees
or specific endorsements in math, social studies, science,
and reading.
Our Student Body:
Currently we have 176 children
enrolled in our school. Grade sizes vary from 18-26 students
per class. Our preschool class size is 16. The student body
is made up of multiple nationalities within one Orthodox
Faith. They come from as far as Hinsdale, New Lenox, Lemont,
Mokena, Chicago, LaGrange, Romeoville, and Bolingbrook, to
Schererville, Indiana.
Our Facilities:
We have a technology lab that is
fully operational and utilized on a daily basis. In
addition, we have a science lab, two classrooms dedicated to
our preschool and their specific needs, a dedicated
kindergarten classroom and playground, and a full size
collegiate gym. Each classroom has a fully functioning
computer and overhead projector for assisting the teachers
in teaching their subject matter.
Our Parent
Organization & School Board:
Family, staff, and community all share the responsibilities
for the development of well-rounded children. Our parent
organization (KPTA) is an active and integral part of our
school. Their fund-raising throughout the school year and
volunteers that help the principal when needed are both
vital to the schools viability. Our School Board is a
sub-committee of the Parish Council that is governed by the
by-laws of the Parish. It meets every month during the
school year and tackles the issues of both budget and policy
for the school.
Special Areas of
Instruction: Band instruction
(Grades 4-8); Music instruction (Grades K-5); Art
instruction (Grades K-5); Religious instruction (PreK-8);
Physical Education (PreK-8); Greek Studies (PreK-8);
Technology Lab (K-8) loaded with SuccessMaker, a software
program that individualizes and supports instruction in
reading and math for students in K-8.
High School
Placement: Our students enroll
easily in all of the private and public high schools in the
area. Many of our students REGULARLY place in honors classes
immediately upon entering their freshman year of high
school. Our feedback from our feeder schools Stagg and
Sandburg, along with other high schools, is very positive
when describing how well prepared our students are as rising
freshman.
Academic
Competitions: Math counts (Grades
4-8); Geography Bee (Grades 4-8); Science Fair (Grades 4-8);
Law Essay Competition (Grades 7-8); Band Solo and Ensemble
Competition (Grades 4-8); Hellenic Writing Assessment and
Spelling Bee.
Student Testing:
Iowa Standardized Achievement
Tests (K-8) given in the fall of each year; CoGAT (Cognitive
Abilities Test)
(1-8) given in the fall
of every other year; Benchmark testing in reading, math and
writing times per year (K-8).
Extended After School
Learning Opportunities: Art; Band; Baking/Cooking
Club, Book Publishing; Chess; Computer Club; Drama; Film
Club; Geography Club; Greek Authors Club; Greek Mythology;
Greek Newspaper; Greek Tutoring; Koraes School Store,
Science Enrichment; Stock Market/Finance Club; Student
Council; Student Paper; Yearbook Club.
Community youth
activities: Basketball, Soccer,
Cheerleading, and Traditional Greek Dancing.
Koraes Academic
Knowledge and Skills – Main Core Subject Areas
Prekindergarten:
A child-centered, Montessori based approach to learning.
Greek, religion, music and art is also taught.
Kindergarten-
Fifth Grades:
Language Arts:
Through the study of language arts students will learn to
read, speak and write fluently and understand a broad range
of written material. Students will learn to listen
carefully and effectively and communicate well. Students
will learn to write for a variety of audiences and purposes.
Organizational skills are taught and reinforced through the
daily use of an assignment notebook. Reading support is
offered daily.
Mathematics:
Students will learn to
identify, describe and investigate patterns found in
everyday living as they relate to math. Numbers,
quantities, shapes, and numerical relationships will be
investigated along with problem solving, visualizing and
reasoning skills. Computation skills will be mastered in
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Math
enrichment is provided for all students weekly.
Social Studies:
Students learn about political,
social and economic systems with an emphasis on the United
States and Illinois.
Science:
Key concepts and principles of
life, physical, earth and space science develop learners who
understand the scientific and inquiry process. A hands-on
approach to learning is emphasized at all levels.
Sixth – Eighth
Grades
Language Arts:
Students will read, comprehend
and interpret a variety of literary works, use correct
usage, grammar and mechanics and compose well-organized
writing for specific purposes and audiences. Students will
effectively communicate ideas verbally and in writing.
Mathematics:
Students in sixth grade study
general mathematical concepts. Seventh grade studies
pre-algebra: equalities/inequalities, statistic/probability,
and functions and graphing. Eighth grade studies algebra:
linear equations and inequalities, solving and analyzing
systems of equations, and exponential, quadratic, rational
and radical forms of expressing numbers. Problem solving is
emphasized at each level.
Social Studies:
Students in sixth grade study
world history, seventh grade studies U.S. history to 1877,
and eighth grade studies U.S. history from 1877 to present
times. Students will also study current events, and will
present research on various historical events
Science:
Students in sixth grade study earth
science: its internal processes and its history, astronomy
and the environment, seventh grade studies physical science:
matter, energy, motion and forces, electricity and
magnetism. Eighth grade studies life science: life’s
structure and function, plants, animals, ecology and the
human body systems.
Technology:
Technology skills are not taught in isolation but within the
framework of the curriculum in order to enhance and connect
it to learning. Competency in multi-media presentations,
spreadsheets, graphs, safety of Internet use, and Microsoft
applications is attained through student created projects
which support learning in the classroom.
Faith, Family and
Excellence in Education
Since 1910 |
