Beacon's Kindergarten program balances academics and the arts with motor skill development.

The full-day program (9:00 to 3:00) prepares children for the transition from Early Childhood to the more structured environment of first grade.

Beacon's child-driven curriculum has many facets. In addition to focusing on what each child is developmentally ready to learn, we nurture each child's sense of self-esteem.

We teach each child to feel empowered to achieve the highest personal level of learning and to appropriately influence his or her classmates. Beacon's core curriculum exceeds all State of California standards. Teachers use techniques of mastery learning to help students acquire reading and math skills.

Health and physical education instruction is provided at all levels. In addition, conflict resolution and teamwork skills are taught and practiced throughout the Beacon community.

The maximum number of students in a class is 18. Each classroom has one principal teacher, who is assisted by various Flex teachers. During a school day, a student may spend individual time with the teacher, work cooperatively in a group of three or four students on a specific skill or project, and participate in a lesson with the entire class.

Beacon, with 250 students, believes that diversity is essential and that it includes more than race and ethnic background. The Beacon student population represents a wide distribution of income, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, family composition and academic and personal skills.

Kindergarten Curriculum
The Kindergarten curriculum includes language arts, math, science, visual and performing arts, motor development (physical education) and the introduction of Spanish.

• Language Arts Is taught with an emphasis on early reading, handwriting, phonics and spelling.
• Math Study focuses on counting by number groups, patterns, sorting, graphing and number combinations.
• Science Explores living things, growing bodies, air, water and weather, the earth, the solar system and matter and energy.
• Arts Instruction includes the visual arts, dance and vocal and instrumental music each week taught by arts specialists who are practicing artists in the community. The arts programs celebrate ethnic and cultural diversity and are coordinated with core classroom instruction.

Enhancing Self Esteem
Beacon students are taught to feel empowered to achieve the highest personal level of learning and to influence appropriately his or her learning environment through EPIC (Every Person Influences Children). EPIC is a self-esteem program for students, parents and teachers. Primarily authored by Beacon's founder Thelma Farley, EPIC is used in schools nation-wide. Throughout the curriculum emphasis is placed on teaching and using conflict resolution and personal and group negotiation skills. Principles of personal responsibility and group accountability are reinforced.

Homework Policy
Beacon recognizes that families - however constituted - are partners in each child's education. It is important that children are able to participate in family activities and that parents and guardians determine how to spend time with their children instead of having to do school work. Therefore homework is not assigned in kindergarten.

A Beacon Kindergarten Week
The following example provides an overview of a typical school week. The school day is 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Extended care is offered before school from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m and after school from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.