Our program

Children are the center of everything at La Cima! 

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Through our robust arts programming, La Cima students have access to five arts periods per week and use their voices and their bodies in different ways. We have built our arts programs to be both a mirror and a window for our students to be able to see themselves in music and through art and as a way to learn about the world. We are working to expand our instrumental instruction so that every La Cima student learns to play an instrument as a part of their elementary education.

Curriculum Overview

La Cima students are immersed in an expansive and inspiring curriculum to ensure a well-rounded and balanced foundation that supports their learning in and beyond elementary school. La Cima classes are tailored to children’s innate curiosity, developmental needs, and creative impulses of young learners. Our teachers collaborate to produce engaging lessons that nurture inquisitiveness, intellectual courage, and empathy. We explore our feelings, the emotions of others, and how to be a good community member through our Social Emotional Learning curriculum. We use New York City as a learning lab with frequent field trips that connect the classroom to the broader community.

  • La Cima fosters a lifelong love of reading and an ability to articulate their ideas in writing.

    When students enter Kindergarten they begin by learning the connection between letters and sounds through an exploration of phonics.  As students move through the grades, focus shifts from decoding to language comprehension as they enjoy and analyze a wide array of genres. In all grades, students learn to express themselves in writing, conducting research and summarizing their ideas in essays, crafting clear and engaging personal narratives, and developing their voices as growing authors. As a part of our fifth grade graduation every student gives a speech reflecting on their time at La Cima, which we see as a culmination of their journey as elementary school writers.

  • We believe students learn mathematics best when they become doers of mathematics and not mere answer-getters. Our learning model asks students to first develop their reasoning before connecting their understanding to concepts and skills. They interact with each other and engage in mathematical discourse with their peers and teachers to explore concepts, prove their answers, and explain their thinking. Rather than focusing on rote memorization, students build their mental dexterity as they learn a number of ways to manipulate numbers and solve multi-step problems.

  • At La Cima science is filled with hands-on experiences where students participate in experiences to figure out the world around them. Students are encouraged to ask questions, to think as scientists and develop hypotheses, and to conduct step-by-step experiments that require them to collect and organize data and draw conclusions.  We encourage students to engage with real-world issues using three-dimensional learning practices as active investigators of phenomena. All students participate in our annual school wide science fair where they present their conclusions to the broader La Cima community.

  • At La Cima, scholars engage in building their fundamental elements of art, including line, shape, space, color, and texture. They practice their fine motor skills to create artwork inspired by artists such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Pablo Picasso. Scholars also learn about the history of various artists they have studied and their work. Scholars use various mediums such as paint, texture, color… to add details to their art. Through these lessons, scholars aim to learn how to create works of art that are inspired by artists they have studied, that are proudly displayed throughout the school.

  • Through a partnership with Jazz Empowers, our current third grade students have the opportunity to learn piano twice per week. The aim of the program is to provide students with high quality music education which allows them to maximize their creativity and self expression. Students will learn to read music, play by ear and understand music theory. Our goal is to continue this partnership in grades 3-5 in the upcoming school year.