Welcome to DelCampo School's office of Curriculum and Instruction. At the Curriculum Office, I work with teachers, staff, and principals developing curricula, providing professional development, and assessing different educational programs to enhance your children's learning. Our school provides high quality bilingual education, where up to date technology and research-based educational methods integrate to promote and enhance learning in an environment where discovery, experimentation, and reflection are encouraged and nurtured.
Our teachers work closely with their students to achieve learning outcomes that are preparing them to efficiently perform in higher education institutions and in life. Teachers utilize the most current research-based educational methodologies in order to successfully assist our students in becoming life-long learners. At the office, we work together to see your child thrives academically and be prepared for college. We monitor your children's progress and the teachers input in the classroom to attain successful learning progressions.
To learn more about what we do, please feel free to contact us any time. We are here to serve and improve education. We very much appreciate your input; therefore we can provide you with a better service.
Kind regards,
Sara Solorzano, PhD
Office of Curriculum and Instruction
DelCampo School Curriculum
School Mission
Foster Students’ Highest Potential
School Vision
Inspire and be Inspired by High-quality Education
DelCampo School (DCS) implements a standards-based curriculum where differentiated instruction [and active learning] are the methodologies utilized to fulfill students’ needs and challenge them to reach their full potential. Our curriculum is child-centered and dedicated to providing high-quality bilingual education. It integrates up-to-date learning management systems and technology with modern educational methods to promote learning in a process of discovery, experimentation, and reflection. DelCampo Curriculum aims to go beyond the mere transmission of knowledge (traditional classrooms). Consequently, our standards-based curriculum’s primary purpose is for our students to construct (conduct research) and co-construct knowledge (problem-solving collaboratively with their peers and their teachers) in a challenging environment where they are fully engaged in their own learning.
Standards-based Curriculum
DelCampo curriculum emphasizes the development of competencies that prepare the students academically, aligning student learning outcomes with the 21st century standards to prepare Wildcats at DelCampo to apply, synthesize, and evaluate problems and theories they will be exposed to in college life.
Differentiated Instruction
Differentiation means tailoring instruction to meet individual needs (Tomlinson &Demirsky, 2000). At DelCampo, teachers plan lessons taking into consideration students’ academic needs. They design activities based on learning outcomes and content knowledge requirements. Lesson plans can reflect accommodations in content, activities, or assessments.
Active Learning
Active learning (McKeachie, 2005) is a process whereby students engage in learning activities that promote analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of class content. In DelCampo, our students are encouraged and expected to read, research, write, argument, debate and most importantly challenge what they are taught. We want them to be able to understand the importance of what they learn. We want to create thinkers that will be able to problem solve while they consider the pros and cons of all the options at stake.
Divisions
DelCampo School has four divisions: Preschool, Elementary, Middle School, and High School. Knowledge and learning are cumulative; therefore, the curriculum planning in every division at DelCampo is systematically and periodically reviewed and revised ensuring instruction and assessment are aligned to the expected learning outcomes in every subject and grade level.
Pre-School & PECS . . .
The Preschool Division and the Program for Early Childhood Stimulation (PECS) curricula, serving Nursery, Pre-Kinder, and Kinder students draw from the HighScope© curriculum approach which help children develop cognitive, academic, social, and emotional skills in developmentally appropriate ways. Early childhood education at DelCampo is research-based and child-focused where teachers and caretakers use active participatory learning to achieve children’s learning outcomes. DelCampo preschool curriculum not only helps young Wildcats excel in literacy and cognitive learning, but it is also the cornerstone that fundaments our college preparatory program.
Elementary . . .
DelCampo students in Grades 1-5 work to become independent thinkers and develop problem-solving skills that help them thrive in a world that is continuously shifting. The Elementary School curriculum is standards based that includes core subject such as English/language arts, math, science, and social studies as well as supplementary instruction in music, art, information and technology, and physical education. Our teachers deliver an integrated curriculum that connects the various subjects of study and where our students engage in inquiry, analysis, knowledge construction, and communications. DelCampo Elementary curriculum continues with the formation started and developed in Preschool providing students with learning activities where they have a participatory role and the opportunity to apply what they have learned.
Middle School . . .
DelCampo Middle School division serves grades 6-8. Its curriculum builds up on competencies and skills introduced and developed in elementary. The focus of instruction is to continue developing core academic subject knowledge (math, science, social sciences, English) as well as providing supplementary instruction in music, art, information technology, dance, and physical education. DelCampo Middle School further reinforce our college preparatory program.
High School . . .
“A DelCampo student/graduate is a bilingual effective collaborator, critical thinker, problem solver, prepared for college, respectful, life-long learner, honest, and able to reach academic and personal potential” (DelCampo Student Profile). DelCampo High School (Grades 9-12) offers a High School Diploma and the Honduran Bachillerato en Ciencias y Humanidades diploma. DelCampo standards-based High School curriculum also draws from the Honduras mandatory National Curriculum.
High School courses are designed to cover required content on the core subjects of language, literature, history, science, and math. Moreover, our program offers supplementary subjects such as arts, design and technology, the social sciences, and physical education. All students are offered a wide array of extracurricular clubs and activities with a focus on teaching leadership, citizenship, and community service through a series of activities. DelCampo students are also offered the opportunity to do academic trips to conferences and academic competitions where they put into practice DelCampo’s mission of forming a student who can stand out internationally and who can perform academically in all contexts.
At DelCampo we value the context that surrounds us and realize that in order to prepare students for college and to develop competencies that will allow them to succeed in any situation we must teach students according to the world we live in. Nowadays, technology has positioned itself in the academic world as one of the highest requirements; therefore at DelCampo we use technology as a means of instruction. Considering most of the knowledge is readily available on the web we want to make sure we expose our students to guided searches and teach them how to learn more and not hold back to only what a textbook might present. Our students are required to question themselves about what they learn and how they can improve something, how to solve a problem using the resources at hand. Our standards-based curriculum supports our mission to challenge students to think critically, creatively, and independently in order to attain his or her academic and personal potential. Each of our graduates is prepared to not only thrive at any of the world’s finest universities and colleges but also to pursue his or her personal potential in any other professional area.
Assessment
At DelCampo we value our students’ individual needs and academic growth. Assessment guides instruction; therefore, the school implements a comprehensive, school wide grading and assessment system that aligns to and measures the standards-based curriculum expectations. Every division follows a specific evaluation process: preschool uses an ongoing, development skill scale that is uploaded into our reporting system every week.
Elementary, middle and high school have formative and summative assessments throughout each quarter. Exams are scheduled at the end of every quarter. Feedback is provided on all divisions and teachers maintain close communication with parents and families regarding their children’s academic progress.
DCS implements a numerical grading system, that provides the corresponding letter grade necessary for transcripts sent abroad.
Assessment at DelCampo is designed with the learning outcomes as a guide. Besides the different means of assessment, DelCampo also applies standardized tests to evaluate content knowledge, competencies, skills, and outcomes.
DelCampo uses the MAP to assess student progress in kinder through tenth grade; eleventh grade uses the PSAT.
Curricular accommodations are made based on tests results to better assist our students’ academic needs. DelCampo students in their senior year take the SAT and TOEFL as a requirement to apply to study abroad.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
DelCampo School Curriculum and Instruction Office has a well-developed Professional Development Program that provides teachers with eLearning workshops and on-site sessions through MODDLEplatform. Teachers can plan their learning sessions when it is more convenient for them to study to complete each module. DelCampo School has partnerships with Purdue University and Ohio University where our teachers have the opportunity to receive specialized training at the different divisions. Up to date research is at the core of our PD program to ensure instruction, learning activities, learning outcomes, and assessment are fully aligned with our high expectation standard curriculum across grade levels and divisions.