Principles to Guide Curriculum Design at The Oliverian School

Curriculum at Oliverian School is guided by the Mission and the Philosophy/Approach of the School:

Mission

Approach

• To provide a challenging college preparatory curriculum that is responsive to the strengths, special needs, and diverse learning styles of our student body. We offer a curriculum of English, social sciences, math, science, languages, art, stewardship, and adventure that is designed to motivate each student to listen, speak, read, write, create, interpret and analyze with ever-increasing depth, breadth, and complexity.
• To provide a wide range of learning opportunities that involve students in the operation and management of our working farm and forest. Practical hands-on experiences will foster a sense of stewardship and responsibility while encouraging students to problem solve and think creatively in a variety of settings.
• To provide innovative and exceptional instruction from a knowledgeable and dynamic faculty who are committed to our community as teachers and role models.
• To utilize an adventure-based approach to teaching by engaging students in vigorous and rewarding learning experiences. Students will meet educational objectives while enhancing physical wellness and self-confidence, practicing leadership and building interpersonal relationships.
• To encourage a family commitment through a program that is designed to establish meaningful and supportive connections for our students.
• To maintain a family-style living environment within an 1,800 acre campus where students will live in faculty-run homes.
• To help students acknowledge and resolve personal challenges through individual and group counseling services, as well as provide access to psychiatric assessment and treatment where needed.
• To help students know themselves, develop their passions, and realize access to post-secondary options, including college.
• To promote a lifelong commitment to fitness and a responsible use of leisure time through presenting a variety of competitive intramural and noncompetitive individual athletic, physical education, and health education endeavors and opportunities.

• Emphasize the development of skills as primary goals of our curriculum
• Select important facts and content knowledge worthy of deep reflection, rather than offering a comprehensive but shallow overview
• Emphasize the development of the following overarching competencies, where they apply:
• Inquiry and Empirical Analysis
• Asking meaningful questions
• Determining appropriate investigation methods to answer questions, including:
• Interpreting/communicating the results of research
• Social and Ethical Reasoning
• Considering diverse perspectives
• Challenging one’s own assumptions about an issue
• Considering the impact of a position or action
• Taking personal action
• Systemic/Ecological Thinking
• Developing an awareness of environmental interdependence
• Demonstrating ecological awareness through speech and action
• Communication and Expression
• Reading, listening and interpreting
• Writing and presenting
• Conveying it artistically
• Identify individual students' strengths and help them utilize those strengths to access learning
• Allow for student choice in content, delivery, process, and/or assessment, where appropriate
• Frame coursework and activities in order to make their purpose transparent (clear, explicit) to students
• Build trust with students through honest, authentic feedback that is framed positively, that is actionable, audible, and credible
• Build in hands-on activities with real-world application when possible
• Provide work that has value and purpose and make that value and purpose transparent (clear and explicit to students)
• Assist students in breaking large projects down into small steps
• Are prepared to answer Quinn's Six Questions for our curriculum
• Empower students to know themselves, to make good decisions, to nurture passions, develop hope for the future, and open access to post-secondary options
• Involve stewardship, adventure, and the arts, where appropriate, in all curriculum development and delivery