Academics

Academic instruction at Santa Fe South has been carefully designed around a rigorous curriculum in all subjects from Pre-K to 12th Grade. Because Math and Reading are the foundational building blocks for learning in all subject areas, students receive Math and Reading instruction in  90 minute blocks. Click below to learn more about the Santa Fe South approach to Reading and Math instruction. 

Reading

Our early childhood classrooms embody the science of reading, as the  brain learns to read using a systematic, explicit approach to phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary development. This  allows learners to connect language to writing. Once students master foundational skills, our ELA classrooms are designed to explicitly teach and practice deconstructing text, reading with metacognition, and making thinking visible. 

Mathematics 

Our Math classrooms are designed to explicitly teach and practice conceptual understanding, math vocabulary, procedural fluency, and mathematical reasoning. Santa Fe South Schools  have well-designed instructional blocks with systems and components to support instruction. We believe in high expectations for ourselves, each other, and our students. Most importantly, the overarching goal is to build a lifelong love of learning. 

Data-Driven Instruction (DDI) is the foundation for ensuring the growth and achievement of each Santa Fe South  student. Effective instruction cannot be evaluated by simply teaching students; rather, the true measure of student learning is the evidence of that learning. At SFS, we are highly responsive to data and student work, using our initial data to set rigorous goals for all students. We prioritize strategic assessments, rigorous data analysis, and frequent action steps to drive student achievement. These approaches move us forward in our goal to have every student at or above grade level. 

One of the pieces we use for continuous feedback is standardized testing. Santa Fe South Schools has selected the ACT platform for all Juniors. This test will be given in the Spring and will serve as the Mathematics and Language Arts assessment to be used for all federal and state reporting purposes. If you have any concerns or suggestions regarding this, please email sfstesting@santafesouth.org.

Santa Fe South is grounded in the knowledge that highly effective teachers are the key levers that boost student achievement; thus, providing quality, on-going professional development for teachers to help SFS students excel academically is essential. Professional development at the site and district level, instructional coaching, and content teams prioritize internalization and planning, content knowledge development, pedagogy, and data-driven instruction. Teachers strive for a high level of content proficiency and continuously seek a deeper understanding of curricular materials.