Numbers should add up to more than a right answer. They should inspire aha moments and joyful connections. Eureka Math Squared® set a new standard for rigor, coherence, and focus in the classroom so students gain a deeper understanding of the why behind the numbers, all while making math more enjoyable to learn and teach. The series utilizes a Concrete-to-Pictorial-to-Abstract (C-P-A) approach to mathematics with the aim of developing conceptual understanding. Students are encouraged to use various mental strategies to solve
problems and to focus on the process instead of the answer.

Thoughtfully constructed and designed like a story, Eureka Math Squared is meticulously coherent, with an intense focus on key concepts that layer over time, creating enduring knowledge. Students gain a complete body of math knowledge, not just a discrete set of skills. They use the same models and problem-solving methods from grade to grade, so math concepts stay with them, year after year. Eureka Math Squared contains multiple daily opportunities to build fluency in mathematics. Each is designed with the same notion—growing every student’s ability to use mathematics with ease. Fluency experiences are generally fast-paced and energetic, celebrating improvement and focusing on recognizing patterns and
connections within the material. Eureka Math Squared fluency activities provide differentiated practice through a variety of formats—some are conducted orally, some use manipulatives, others use a personal whiteboard, or a handout and paper-and-pencil format.

The Urban Academy’s ELA program is anchored in the Wonders Series, Fundations & Heggerty, each designed to meet the challenges of today’s classroom and reach all learners. The Wonders Series provides support for teachers and builds a strong literacy foundation, giving  students the opportunity to access and analyze complex text, engage in collaborative conversations, and opportunities to respond to what is read in writing and process writing within the CCSS genres: informative, narrative, and opinion/argumentative writing. Wonders can be taught in print, digital or blended format.  Wonders is an evidence-based K-5 ELA program, aligned with standards and based on the Science of Reading, that empowers students to take an active role in learning and exploration.

Students in grades K-2 also receive Fundations and Heggerty instruction to continuously build and strengthen their foundational skills in ELA. Fundations make learning to read fun while laying the groundwork for life-long literacy. Students receive a systematic program in critical foundational skills, emphasizing:

• Phonemic awareness
• Phonics/ word study
• Sight word study
• Reading fluency
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension strategies
• Handwriting
• Spelling

Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Curriculum is a systematic 35 week program of daily lesson plans that provide a high level of explicit modeling and student engagement. Each level of the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Curriculum focuses on eight phonemic awareness skills, along with two additional activities to develop letter and sound recognition, and language awareness.

The Heggerty Curriculum includes explicit instruction in the following phonological and phonemic awareness skills:

• Rhyming
• Onset Fluency
• Blending
• Isolating final and medial phonemes (sounds)
• Segmenting
• Adding Phonemes
• Deleting Phonemes
• Substituting Phonemes

The Science Team uses the PA STEELS standards in conjunction with The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to guide instruction in the subject. Throughout the year students focus on life, environmental, earth, and physical sciences through content specific texts, videos, experiments, and real world experiences .

Students participate in a project-based assessment each quarter which integrates black studies and technology components.
The students in grades K-5 engage in an Engineering and Design unit which prepares them for the science fair. The engineering and design process is taught through hands on experiments as well as the development of lab reports. The science department works with the literacy department to expand on STEAM activities by adding culturally relevant literature that coincides with the science activities.
Throughout the school year, all students in grades K-5 complete 1 project at home and one intense hands-on project within science class time.
The 5th grade students are given the opportunity to participate in a dissection unit. The science teacher leads a dissection lab in which the complete lab reports as well as perform the dissection.

Our art program is designed to give our students the wonderful benefits of artistic expression through full-scale integration into their entire educational experience. Students explore a variety of great Black and African artists, movements, and mediums that inspire our art instruction. The program incorporates STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) into their art activities and projects. In addition to STEAm it incorporates literacy by way of culturally relevant picture books as a way to engage students. Students will learn to make choices to communicate their ideas as they develop works of art using different mediums. This program operates under the explicit belief that involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skills. Our scholars develop motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork through artists that look like them. This program meets each student where they are to build on their individual confidence to help them grow artistically.

This program also connects with outside STEAM and Art-based programs to give students a wide range of opportunities within the arts. These experiences will give our students a solid introduction to STEAM and Art careers as they advance into society.