Skip to main content
Our Program » Academics

Academics

THRIVE Community School will lead the way in establishing new norms for dramatically improving academic outcomes for students in Santa Fe. We will use research-proven approaches and deliver instruction at a high level.
Students working
 
THRIVE’s Founding Team has a record of success serving diverse student populations, particularly in supporting social and emotional needs and delivering exceptional academic results for all students, including English Learners and Students with Special Needs.  
 
Our work towards student achievement will be rooted in the following commitments:
  • building community
  • improving academic and social outcomes
  • disrupting inequities
 
 
Ready for school
 
We know that understanding what and how your child is learning while they are at THRIVE is important.  Below you will find detailed information about the curriculum we will be using, as well as links to the curriculum home pages.  
 
THRIVE provides all students in grades K-8 opportunities to engage with challenging informational text and literature through EL Education’s ELA Modules. These modules are standards-based and use real world, compelling content to create meaningful and engaging lessons for teachers and students. These materials were specifically selected because of EL Education’s alignment with the New Mexico Common Core State Standards, alignment with our mission, model, guiding principles, and because of this curriculum’s success at driving and redefining student achievement in diverse schools across the country.  This curriculum has also received the highest ratings from EdReports.org. Paired with effective teaching methods, this curriculum ensures students master rigorous content, produce high quality work, and are prepared with the critical thinking, intellectual courage, and emotional development needed to explore passions and contribute to the betterment of our surrounding community and world.
 
Learn More about this exciting and comprehensive curriculum.
In grades K-5, THRIVE uses Reading Mastery to address ELA foundational skills, as well as writing, speaking and listening, and language standards. Reading Mastery is a reading program that uses the Direct Instruction method to help students master essential decoding and comprehension skills. The program places particular emphasis on teaching thinking skills and helping students acquire background knowledge. Program materials include fully scripted lessons to guide teachers through carefully constructed instructional steps - modeling new content, providing guided practice, offering individualized practice and applying skills. Signals and group responses are used to keep students involved, help them stay on task and help with lesson pacing. Teachers assess student performance throughout the program, and struggling students receive practice through remedial exercises. Each level of the program typically spans one academic year, unless it is delivered using an accelerated, data-driven schedule. A typical lesson includes seven to nine short activities encompassing multiple strands of content that include the five essential areas of reading instruction identified by the National Reading Panel. 
 
Learn More about Reading Mastery.
THRIVE will use i-Ready Classroom Mathematics as a comprehensive core mathematics program in grades K-8. The computer-based portion of i-Ready will also serve as a differentiation, personalization, and acceleration tool for all grades. i-Ready Classroom Mathematics makes math accessible to all students through a wide range of accessibility features. Everything works together to support teachers and empower students to connect to mathematics in new ways. It also utilizes rigorous practice opportunities that build students’ conceptual understanding and procedural fluency while also empowering teachers with a number of data driven tools to ensure that instruction is responsive to the needs of students.
 
Learn More about this personalized and motivational mathematics program.
THRIVE’s science programming will play a large role in creating new opportunities for students to explore passions in STEAM related fields. In grades K-8, THRIVE will implement Amplify Science to address the majority of grade level science standards. Amplify was designed for the Next Generation Science Standards and was the only program to receive ratings that met or exceeded expectations in all categories in Ed Reports review of K-8 science curriculum for grades K-8. Similar to STEAM Labs in K-5, Middle School STEAM Labs are enrichment courses led by our middle school math and science teachers that provide students opportunities to extend key concepts from math and science through engaging, hands-on applications of learning that include robotics, engineering, and computer science units.
 
Learn More about this engaging, hands-on curriculum.
For Grades 6-8, THRIVE will utilize Project Lead the Way’s (PLTW) Gateway curriculum during our Middle School STEAM Labs. Through explorations of coding and robotics, flight and space, DNA analysis, and modeling, PLTW Gateway will fuel our students’ passion for discovery. As they engage in hands-on, collaborative problem solving focused on real-world challenges, students use and stretch their imaginations in brand-new ways and connect their learning to life. All the while, students step into roles spanning the career landscape – a crucial experience during this transitional time in their lives.  To ensure that more middle school students have equal access and opportunities to engage and be empowered through the PLTW experience, all PLTW Gateway units and teacher resources are offered in both English and Spanish.
 
Learn More about our STEAM centered curriculum.
 
Happy Family
 
Our social emotional learning curriculum is comprehensive and ensures a streamlined integration of practice throughout the school day and beyond.
THRIVE will use RULER (Recognizing, Understanding, Labeling, Expressing, and Regulating emotions), which is a comprehensive approach to social and emotional learning that was developed by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. RULER was selected as the cornerstone of our SEL programming because it is mission aligned and requires a high level of adult development prior to starting with students. RULER lessons prepare students to use four different tools that are used throughout the school day (the Charter, Mood Meter, Meta-Moment, and Blueprint). These tools help students navigate challenging situations and provide opportunities to build self-awareness and empathy. They are introduced across 16 lessons and then they are integrated throughout the school day with at home extensions.
 
Learn More about RULER
PATHS is an evidence-based, CASEL approved SEL curriculum that will be used in grades K-5 after students complete the 16 lessons that support the use of the four RULER tools.  PATHS provides students with developmentally appropriate opportunities to develop emotion vocabulary and problem-solving skills through structured practice and role plays.
 
Learn More about PATHS
Emozi is the Middle School version of PATHS for students in grades 6-8. The Emozi curriculum consists of lessons that focus on developing skills, mindsets, and confidence at a time when rapid amounts of growth and development occur.  Emozi lessons are also introduced after students have completed the 16 lessons that support the use of the four RULER tools. Emozi lessons focus on topics such as growth mindset, stress, goals setting, mindfulness, and cultural competence and are sometimes centered around a mentor text.
 
Learn More about Emozi