Our language program at Cascade Canyon arises out of our mission to help our students develop the foundational skills and awareness to assume active roles in our global community, and to appreciate diversity. In alignment with the linguistic diversity of our surrounding communities, we implemented a Spanish program in 2008, in lieu of our former French program. We offer both Spanish and Sign Language studies within our curriculum. Devin Eckert, also our Kindergarten science teacher, is our Spanish Specialist, and Peggy Tunder, our Kindergarten teacher, is our Sign Specialist. Both teachers are fluent in their language, and engage students through highly interactive, thoughtfully designed lessons.
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I am extremely
excited to bring our elementary Spanish curriculum to life. Both the linguistic and cultural
elements inherent in studying a new language are important to me personally,
and are central to this Spanish curriculum. Language acquisition goals will be
achieved largely through activities contextualized in Latino culture and the
immigrant experience. I look forward to seeing functional language development
as well as growing respect for and understanding of the beautiful cultures that
personify the Spanish language in the Americas.
A description of our curriculum follows.
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In middle school Spanish, we will be living la
vida latina as we work through practical
situations and traditional experiences in the Spanish-speaking world. Both the
linguistic and cultural elements inherent in studying a new language are
important to me personally, and are central to our middle school Spanish
curriculum. As we work through this curriculum, students will gain useful,
functional language skills to support their continued journey toward fluency
and success in high school Spanish, as well as develop a deepening
understanding of Latin America as dynamic, diverse place.
A description of our curriuclum follows.
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Sign Language is a formal gesture language. It began as a manual
alphabet in the Italian monasteries of the fifteenth century as an
acceptable means of communication between monks who were under vows of
silence. Since that time, sign language has been used to teach the
deaf. Our own sign language is a mixture of French, English, and
Native American signs. In this year’s sign language class, I am
teaching “Signing Exact English” which is the current language used in
the education of the deaf and follows our spoken English syntax.
However, I also expose the students to American Sign Language, which is
a natural language of the deaf community in America and has its own
sentence structure, grammatical rules and semantics.
A description of our curriculum follows.
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 ARTrageous CURRICULUM 2009-2010
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”
-Pablo Picasso
The art curriculum travels an adventurous path to learning about and through art. By mixing information with imagination, the curriculum hopes to provide art experiences that help each student express their creative and unique personal ideas, develop potential solutions to a problem, be flexible in their ideas, enhance their reasoning and intuitive thinking, develop initiative and cultivate attitudes of success!
We travel this road to discovery in any given class by exploring the language of art (see bold text below). We travel lightly, leaving behind doubts, making lots of mistakes and learning to be our own boss when deciding which visual choice/direction to take!
The basic visual symbols in the language of art are known as the elements and principles. The elements of art are line, shape, color, value, texture, form and space. The principles of art (the manner in which elements are arranged in an artwork) are balance, emphasis, repetition, similarity, contrast, overlap, unity, movement, rhythm, distortion, gradation and pattern!
Using this “language” as our road map, lessons/adventures usually proceed with a motivation - a problem to be solved, a design dilemma and/or a guided exploration. This motivation includes an instructional objective to experience new materials/methods of production or a new approach to the same materials, or a new way of “looking” at the message/lesson objective (so that DeVinci cannot accuse us of “looking without seeing”)! We analyze, apply, arrange, compare, construct, contrast, relate, define, demonstrate, depict, describe, develop, discover, discuss, draw, emphasize, experiment, explain, express, identify, illustrate, interpret, judge, list, manipulate, produce, recognize, select, show, solve, use, utilize, verbalize, work and talk about the content! Woven into each lesson is a thread of art history and analysis! We include artrageous “games” in this area such as role playing art buyers and auctioneers, “What’s My Viewpoint,” “Create a Gallery,” “Will the Real ____ Please Stand up?,” etc.
For a "rough" curriculum outline for each grade level, click "read more" below.
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 Music is a gift that allows us to experience the beauty and joy present in the world around us. Music is healing, enlivening and enriching, it helps us to learn to communicate and build community. Music teaches us harmony. The music program at Cascade Canyon School is based on the philosophy that we are all musical and that every child loves to sing, dance and play.
It is the goal of the music program at Cascade Canyon School to provide a holistic approach to learning and appreciating music. Every class starts in a circle where we gather first as a community to share songs, express ourselves and dance. From there we move into a number of musical activities that may include singing songs, movement, body percussion, ensemble work, vocal jams, songwriting, notation, call and response, listening and learning about various music styles.
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 The first goal of the theater program is to help the students explore who they are and to feel comfortable sharing that with others. The second goal is to help them find their voice and communicate that with joy and confidence to the world outside of their own experience. The third goal is to understand the ‘give and take’ of creating together; learning to share the stage with grace.
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The PE program at Cascade Canyon balances instruction in teamwork, coordination and body awareness, and overall fitness. As students progress through PE, K-8, they develop the essential skill of good sportsmanship, the techniques and strategies used to play a range of sports, and the ability to set and achieve personal fitness goals. Cascade Canyon students meet twice a week for PE. Classes are fifty-five minutes each.
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Our Program 
