Kindergarten
A year of transition
Kindergarten is an exciting transition as young learners blend the playing, singing, and craft-making from preschool with more writing, reading, and math lessons. Kindergarteners get used to school routines, practice working together in groups to build teamwork and sharing skills — and learn how to be successful students for years to come.
At a Glance
Choose from Spanish, French or Mandarin tracks
80% immersion in the language
1:10 Student / Teacher Ratio
Curriculum
A Bilingual Program
Students are not taught a language but rather IN a language. Daily exposure to various languages builds confidence and communication skills, and prepares our students to become bilingual, adaptable, and active citizens.
A World-Class Education
Guided by the International Baccalaureate and European standards, our program follows transdisciplinary themes in which language, math, gross motor skills, the arts, music and more are integrated. The curriculum has been built on the principal of incorporating some of the world’s best practices in education such as Singapore Math, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and the Mission Laique Française.
Academic challenge
Our program is structured so that it encourages and facilitates creative and critical thinking skills, while engaging students in discovery, inquiry, and problem-solving. They are constantly and positively challenged, so that they are used to and enjoy giving their best.
The IB Primary Years Program (PYP) is a curriculum framework which centers around a series of transdisciplinary themes that address human commonalities. The Program of Inquiry reflects our philosophy, our knowledge and experience, and the requirements of the NJ Department of Education as well as of the French Curriculum. We review and revise it annually, keeping it relevant, challenging and engaging for our students.
The students are exposed to units of learning that promote inquiry, exploration, and investigation. These units integrate all subject areas and provide meaningful learning experiences for students. The goal is to connect the students’ learning to the real world, both locally and globally. We want our students to develop a deep understanding of the concepts and
Transdisciplinary Concepts: form, function, causation, change, perspective, connection, responsibility
Language / Literacy Skills: Students will practice writing, start to practice cursive, they will discover how the letters combine, phonetic awareness, will express their opinions and inquiries, structure language and learn syntactic structures. They will begin to participate in a series of dramatic activities, will understand the correlation between letters and sound, and start to read and understand familiar print.
Math Skills: Kindergarteners will start building the tools to prepare for Grade 1, as well as to structure one’s thinking. They will focus on representing and comparing whole numbers, initially with sets of objects; and on describing shapes and space. More learning time in Kindergarten will be devoted to numeracy, learning counting and decomposition, constructing and deconstructing numbers, and beginning the discovery of algorithms.
Assessments
- Daily formative assessments (rubrics, checklists, anecdotal assessments, exit tickets, etc.)
- Periodical assessments: Twice a year, we assess our students on various attributes, including academic skills as well as creativity, collaborative planning, and innovation. The scores are recorded and shared with parents. The goal of these assessments is to look at the growth of our students over time, from when they began studying at Tessa, to the moment that they graduate.
- MAP tests by NWEA: these include math and language.
- Twice per year, we administer a survey related to your child’s relationship with his or her teacher, to make sure that we are doing our absolute best to care for our students.
Sample of Daily Schedule
| Time | Schedule |
|---|---|
| 7.30am - 8.30am | Before Care |
| 8.30am | Start of the Day |
| 8.45am - 9am | Circle Time / Group Meeting |
| 9am - 9.45am | Unit of Inquiry (Social Studies, Sciences, Math, Literacy, Arts and Movements) |
| 9.45am - 10.30am | Snack & Recess |
| 10.30am - 11am | Unit of Inquiry |
| 11am - 12pm | Specials |
| 12pm - 1pm | Lunch & Recess |
| 1pm - 1.30pm | Quite Time |
| 1.30pm - 2.30pm | Unit of Inquiry |
| 2.30pm - 3pm | Learning Centers |
| 3pm - 3.15pm | Pack-up / Departure |
| 3.15pm - 7pm | After Care |
Tessa International School
Office: (201) 755-5585 | Location: 702 Monroe St. Hoboken, NJ 07030
