The Extended Studies Curriculum (ESC) classes focus on nurturing the whole child through an active and personal involvement in the learning process. It is our goal that all students develop their individual ability to communicate thoughts, feelings, and understanding of the world around them. Each week every student participates in an art, music, physical education and science lab classes. Every other week students also attend classes in the technology lab and library. Credentialed teachers, many of whom left the traditional classroom setting to pursue the specialty they are now involved with, teach each of these standards-based classes.
Every school in the Del Mar Union School District is fortunate to have this program as a result of various funding sources. Special thanks to the P.T.A. for funding our P.E. program this year and to the Del Mar Foundation for funding our art, music, science and technology programs. The DMUSD continues to support our library program.
Through ESC, students at Ashley Falls have the opportunity to be engaged in a comprehensive, standards-based Visual Arts curriculum, motivating students to gain knowledge and skills needed to express their ideas creatively through the visual arts. Students explore a variety of mediums including painting, clay, printmaking, metal tooling, fiber arts, pastels, chalk, wire sculpture, wood assemblage, and much more. Students in kindergarten through 6th grade learn the language of art; from the seven art elements (line, shape, value, texture, color, form, and space) to the principles of design. They also are introduced to and inspired by artists and artistic movements throughout history, from the Masters to Modern Art; from classic to contemporary. Students explore trends in art ranging from art produced by cultures around the world, to the use of recycled materials by local contemporary artists. The art specialists at Ashley Falls are committed to making the Eagle Art Studio a place where each student’s artistic voice has the nourishment and encouragement to flourish.
For more information on what particular art skills and concepts your child is learning each year, please click to access the California Content Standards for Visual Arts.
The primary purpose of the Ashley Falls Library is to support your child's literacy development. During every visit students are exposed to various genres and authors, exploring the vast world of both fiction and non-fiction. Our read-a-thon creates even more incentive to develop reading habits. Through cross-curricular activities, time is the library is also used to help reinforce classroom lessons while developing valuable library skills. From the basics of pre-reading to intermediate research projects, the library is equipped with materials for all grade levels. Reader’s theaters, oral reports, group activities, library games and much more is happening during a class’ visit to the Library. It is one interactive place so free to come by the library at anytime! Check out our website at Ashley Falls Library.
In the Ashley Falls Music Rooms, students experience music through singing, moving, playing small percussion instruments, and playing Orff-Schulwerk instruments (i.e. xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels). Upper grade students additionally explore recorders, keyboards, and guitars. Core musical concepts, as outlined by the California State Music, Dance, and Theatre Standards, are taught through music creation, exploration and games! Each student will have at least two opportunities to present their learned music skills through music classroom Open House events and grade level musicals. The music teachers collaborate with classroom teachers to provide science integrated musicals for the younger elementary student with Go Fish for 1st Grade (ocean themes), Bugz! for 2nd (biology), and Star Search for 3rd (astronomy). Upper grade students receive further historical integration of Social Studies themes with 4th grade Missions and More! (California history), 5th grade Lewis and Clark (American history), and 6th grade Dig It (Ancient Civilizations). Fall Chorus is open to all 3rd through 6th grade students.
The Ashley Falls Physical Education program is designed to be a place where students can have FUN while becoming physically educated and committed to lifelong health. It is a continuing process of articulated, sequential development of skills, talents, attitudes, and behaviors. Through the P.E. program, all children have the potential to become physically educated regardless of their talents, skills, or limitations. For More information please visit the Ashley Falls Physical Education website.
In addition to their classroom science experiences, the Science Lab at Ashley Falls is a hands-on, inquiry-based experience for all students. It is a place where curiosity is encouraged and discovery is celebrated. The units covered in the lab reflect the California state standards at each grade level. The opportunities for enrichment go beyond the lab walls as the children can take part in science nights, field trips, competitions, fairs, Invention Showcases, Green Team, and Zoo Crew, which cares for the eight animals in the science lab. Students also have the opportunity to meet real scientists, as the lab connects with various scientists in our community willing to share their areas of expertise.
Information Technology is a fast moving, rapidly altering system. To keep our students progressing on pace with today’s environment, computers are readily accessible Ashley Falls School.
Equipped with an Apple iMac lab, complete with iSight cameras, every class may work simultaneously on projects under the direction of a credentialed teacher. Students, starting in kindergarten, work on projects designed to meet individual creative, developmental and academic needs. Students focus on typing skills every year as well as work through academic web sites to reinforce State Standards and classroom instruction. On any given day, you can walk into the Technology lab and find students word processing, creating Power Point presentations, navigating through web quests, designing timelines, animating cartoons, composing music, producing iMovies, and much more.
Classrooms also have access to desktop computers networked across the campus, allowing for work to be started on any computer and completed and published anywhere else on campus. Teachers may incorporate the COW cart (laptop Computers On Wheels), one of the three AlphaSmart carts or Writers into their daily lessons for additional research and publishing opportunities. For instructional purposes, classrooms are also equipped with LCD projectors, complete with document cameras, so every child can see teacher demonstrations with ease and students can easily share their work with peers.
Beyond the classroom and Tech Lab desktops, students have access to Sony and Flip digital video cameras, still cameras and blue screen technology so students are able to bring curriculum to life and transport themselves and the audience any where in the world. The Technology Lab is home to the Eagle Eye News TV studio, where a team of 6th graders is responsible for filming, editing and broadcasting the school’s weekly news show. Students view the Eagle Eye News and participate in school-wide interactive lessons via our closed-circuit television network. This network even has the capability to broadcast a live feed from anywhere in the school. The Eagle Eye News airs each Monday and can be seen weekly through the “Ashley Falls in Action” button on our Ashley Falls Home Page.
