YPI schools are built on the idea that every student deserves a fair chance to learn, grow, and be a part of the expanding global market. Every student has potential, and that is why we want to focus our efforts on making sure our students are prepared for the future, and have a chance at success when they get out of school.
We live in a fast-changing world, and it is important for students to not only be prepared for the world as it is today, but for the world ten years from now. Science and technology are the fields that are impacting the world the most, and our students need to understand how they can use technology to improve and grow.
Our primary school focuses on children ages 4-11. This is the age where we truely want to establish a strong, lifelong foundation for our students. We want them to have the knowledge, skills, and mindset that it takes to continue learning on their own and to succeed in the future.
Mathematics
Mathematics is fundamental to understanding principles of science and technology. We teach our students the foundations of mathematics, from basic arithmetic to advanced operations. Our lessons will help students to think through problems logically, identify and analyze the problems, and articulate the problems clearly. The lessons are designed to encourage students to solve the problems creatively and to reinforce abstract, higher level thinking. Our primary aim is to enhance mathematical thinking to help develop the fundamentals of science and technology.
Science and Technology
Our students will receive the most up-to-date knowledge about science and technology. Science helps students understand the world around them. Our lessons teach about everything from the fundamentals of the universe, reproduction of trees, and the evolution of species. We teach these topics through the implementation of scientific observations and experiments to help students understand how human history has progressed through the advancement of science. We enable scientific thinking through technological methods. We use technology to facilitate active learning for students. We utilize them to help students develop research skills and communicate to solve problems through navigating webpages and by accessing to the library of data.
Language
Our lessons offer focus on the fundamentals of linguistic development including writing, communication, as well as reading skills that enrich vocabulary and literacy comprehension. We encourage students to express their ideas freely and structure those ideas into a form of writing. We implement research and creative writing to achieve a variety of written communication using thoughtfully designed class materials and activities. These activities reflect lessons for grammar, sentence analysis, and understating of paragraph structure. Our goals are to enhance articulation of problem solving and develop basic to advanced verbal skills.
Self Sufficiency
Our program strives to guide students to be responsible for their own success in order to prepare them for the world ahead of them. Self-sufficiency is necessary to help them become independent in their decision making. We help them focus on their goals and to be confident in their abilities in order to cultivate their emotional intelligence. We achieve this by having them take responsibility in the classrooms. Specifically, we teach organizational and time management skills to help them keep track of their schedule and encourage them to be mindful of their duties and tasks. Students are directed to make and strategize goals they want to achieve. They are encouraged to commit to the set goals and maintain their autonomy.
Creative Skills
Our school believes that creativity is as important as mathematics and science. Creative thinking drives innovation to solve complex problems and offer incredible solutions to change the world. Our students are encouraged to be creative. Throughout the curriculum, we promote creative thinking and have them experiment with creative practices and present their ideas with the class. We enable this by adopting creative instructional strategies and methods to ensure this practice is in place. Specifically, creative writing is a big part of our language program, which allows students to be provided with feedback on their creative process.
Teamwork
Teamwork is one of our four core values for success. We believe that teamwork is the culmination of communication and cooperation that comes together to achieve something extraordinary. At our school, students will learn how to cooperate with others and are encouraged to bring their strengths to accomplish shared goals. Students will learn this core social skill through every aspect of our curriculum. In order to achieve this, we implement a variety of methods including group problem-solving tasks, reading circles, team sports, debates, as well as school forums. Students learn to take turns to contribute to the solution and to build ideas together as a team.
Responsibility
Responsibility is the second of our four core values. We help our students to set priorities and understand the significance of carrying their responsibilities. Our teachers build their own practice of responsibility first to set an example to the class. Students follow to establish their own practices and integrate them into their schedules. They are assigned to achieve small tasks that need to be completed each day through a classroom job system. Teachers both verbally and visually provide direction on how to complete tasks. students who complete the tasks will be praised for being responsible; otherwise, teachers help students get back on track.
Commitment
Commitment is the third of our four core values. While responsibility is knowing how to plan and complete a task, commitment is having the dedication to practice something repetitively. Commitment is working studiously even when something is challenging and building strong habits that allow you to overcome any obstacles. Even if a student is talented and responsible, students will not be able to achieve goals without commitment. Our curriculum implements strategies that aim to develop this core values through the activities that cultivate other core values such as responsibility and self-sufficiency.
Honesty
Honesty is the fourth of our school’s core values, and the most important to have academically. Learning is built on trust between the student and the teacher. Without it, there cannot be a healthy learning environment. Honesty is linked to the development of a moral vocabulary and responding appropriately to academic dishonesty. Most importantly, honesty helps students believe in themselves. We cultivate a culture of honesty and integrity in the classroom through a variety of approaches. In every class, teachers communicate their expectations about academic integrity and consequences of academic dishonesty; then reward students for their academic honesty; otherwise, implement corrective actions immediately. A culture of honesty is also implemented through the use of a moral vocabulary. This encourages the classroom to use words that reflect values of honesty, trustworthiness, and respect; and help them initiate meaningful conversations in particular classes.
Inspire an Attitude of Learning
If there is one thing we can teach our students, it would be to be inspired to learn every day. We are going to be learning so much inside the classroom, but there is so much that students will need to learn outside the classroom as well. Students are not always going to have their educators to help them learn. We hope that we can instill an attitude for learning into our students, so that they can take everything they learned in school, and use it to achieve as much as possible.