Our Academic Programs
Since our founding in 1996, New Hope School has sought to create a rigorous academic curriculum to challenge our students both spiritually and intellectually.
We use the Core Knowledge Foundation curriculum, which is a challenging comprehensive academic program that allows for flexibility for students to excel or review materials depending on their academic ability.
Our Kindergarten Program
Through small class sizes, students main goal is to learn to read! In our English Language Arts (ELA) classes, students complete listening and speaking exercises to develop their phonetic awareness. Additionally, through poetry and fiction (including Aesop's Fables), sayings and phrases become a part of the lexis for students to learn! Students also begin to develop skills in World and American geography, early exploration and settlement, US presidents, and symbols & figures. At the Kindergarten level, students learn patterns and classification, numbers and number sense, money, computation, measurement, and geometry in Mathematics (KG).
Lastly, Science is a BLAST! We learn about plants and plant growth, animals and their needs, the human body, introduction to magnetism, seasons and weather, taking care of the Earth, and science biographies.
Our First and Second Grade Curriculum
Our Academic Program is devised to include 1st and 2nd Grade Learners, and 3rd and 4th Grade Learns to progress at their own pace. In our small class sizes, students can excel is they have show the academic progress to move faster than the curriculum. 1ST GRADE (ELA)- As seasoned readers, we begin to read fiction and non-fiction works, narrative and informative writing, language conventions, poetry, sayings, and phrases 2ND GRADE (ELA) - Fiction becomes an important time for 2nd Graders as we develop mythology of Ancient Greece and stories that reflect differing writing styles and times. We begin narrative, informative, and persuasive writing, language conventions, and poetry.
HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY
In First and Second Grade, students begin to develop a concept of world history (including ancient civilizations), American history including the US constitution, westward expansion, the Civil War, immigration and citizenship, fighting for a cause, geography of the Americas, symbols and figures.
MATHEMATICS & SCIENCE
1ST GRADE MATH - Students learn patterns and classification, numbers and number sense, money, computation including addition and subtraction, measurement, geometry
2ND GRADE MATH - Students learn numbers and number sense, fractions, money, computation including multiplication, measurement, geometry
1ST GRADE SCIENCE - Students learn about living things and their environments, the human body, matter and properties of matter, introduction to electricity, astronomy, the Earth, science biographies
2ND GRADE SCIENCE - Students learn about cycles in nature, insects, the human body, magnetism, simple machines, science biographies
3rd & 4th Grade
LANGUAGE ARTS: reading and writing including grammar and vocabulary, poetry, fiction including myths and mythical characters, sayings and phrases HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: world history including the Ancient Roman civilization and the Vikings, American history including the earliest Americans, early exploration of North America and the thirteen colonies VISUAL ARTS: elements of art, Native American art, art of Ancient Rome and Byzantine civilizations MUSIC: elements of music, listening and understanding, songs MATHEMATICS: numbers and number sense, fractions and decimals, money, computation including division, measurement, geometry SCIENCE: introduction to classification of animals, the human body, magnetism, light and optics, sound, ecology, astronomy, science biographies
4th Grade
LANGUAGE ARTS: writing and research, grammar and usage, poetry, fiction including myths and mythical characters, speeches, sayings and phrases HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: world geography, history in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and China, American history including the American Revolution, making a constitutional government, early presidents and politics, reformers, symbols and figures VISUAL ARTS: art of Middle Ages in Europe, Islamic art and architecture, the art of Africa, the art of China, the art of the US MUSIC: elements of music, listening and understanding, songs MATHEMATICS: numbers and number sense, fractions and decimals, money, computation including multiplication and division, measurement, geometry SCIENCE: the human body, basic chemistry, electricity, geology, meteorology, science biographies
5th Grade
LANGUAGE ARTS: writing and research, grammar and usage, vocabulary, poetry, fiction including myths and legends, speeches, sayings and phrases HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: world geography, early American civilizations, European exploration and trade, the Renaissance and the Reformation, England in the Golden Age, Russian early history, feudal Japan, American history including westward expansion, the Civil War, Native Americans, US geography VISUAL ARTS: art of the Renaissance, 19th century American art, art of Japan MUSIC: elements of music, listening and understanding, American musical traditions, songs MATHEMATICS: numbers and number sense, ratio and percent, fractions and decimals, computation including multiplication and division, measurement, geometry, probability and statistics, pre-algebra SCIENCE: classifying living things, cells, plant structures and processes, life cycles and reproduction, the human body, chemistry, science biographies
6th Grade
ENGLISH: writing and research, grammar and usage, spelling, vocabulary, poems and terms, fiction and drama, sayings and phrases HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: world geography, lasting ideas from ancient civilizations, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, Romanticism, industrialism, capitalism, and socialism, Latin American independence movements, American history including immigration, industrialization, and urbanization, reform VISUAL ARTS: art history, classical art, Gothic art, art of the Renaissance, Baroque art, Rococo art, neoclassical and romantic art, realism art MUSIC: elements of music, classical music from Baroque to Romantic MATHEMATICS: numbers and number sense, ratio, percent, and proportion, computation including multiplication and division, measurement, geometry, probability and statistics, pre-algebra SCIENCE: plate tectonics, oceans, astronomy, energy, heat, energy transfer, the human body, chemistry, science biographies
7th Grade
ENGLISH: writing and research, grammar and usage, spelling, vocabulary, elements of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, drama, foreign phrases commonly used in English HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: America becomes a world power, World War I, the Russian Revolution, America from the 1920s to the New Deal, World War II, geography of the US VISUAL ARTS: art history, impressionism, post-impressionism, expressionism and abstraction, modern American painting MUSIC: elements of music, classical music: Romantics and Nationalists, American musical traditions including blues and jazz MATHEMATICS: pre-algebra, geometry including three-dimensional objects, probability and statistics SCIENCE: atomic structure, chemical bonds and reactions, cell division and genetics, history of the Earth and life forms, evolution, science biographies
8th Grade
ENGLISH: writing and research, grammar and usage, spelling, vocabulary, elements of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, drama, foreign phrases commonly used in English HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: the decline of European colonialism, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War and the rise of social activism, the Middle East and oil politics, the end of the Cold War and the expansion of democracy and its challenges, the US Constitution, geography of Canada and Mexico VISUAL ARTS: art history, painting since World War II, photography, 20th century sculpture, architecture since the Industrial Revolution MUSIC: elements of music, non-western music, classical music including modern music, vocal music MATHEMATICS: algebra including quadratic equations and functions, analytic geometry including introduction to trigonometry, triangles, and proofs SCIENCE: physics, electricity and magnetism, electromagnetic radiation and light, sound waves, chemistry of food and respiration, science biographies
+ After School Care
After Care Hours
2:45-3:15 pm Play time
3:15-4:15 pm Homework time
4:15-5:00 pm Free time
After Care Fee
$8.00/ hour
After School Activities
There are a number of activities students can take part in after regular school hours. Sign up your child for one or more of these clubs and activities.
+ Club & Activities
Students engage in a vibrant series of activities both inside and outside the classroom.
From classroom discussions and debates to various after school activities, New Hope School seeks to challenge its students to develop their talents and skills in a number of different fields.
Art Club
This once-a-week club allows students to develop their artistic skills and to pursue creative projects over a several week period. Students are exposed to different types of art, including but not limited to, finger-painting, oils, acrylics, water colors, drawing, and sculpture.
Dance
We offer dance classes for both older and younger students once a week. Students learn basic and more advanced dance moves in various styles such as hip hop and classical. The dance class performs twice a year at the annual Winter Concert and Graduation Concert.
Choir
Students may also join the school choir, the New Hope Singers Junior, which performs at the Clifton City Hall and senior citizens clubs each year. Our choir participates annually in the Young Voices concert at the Prudential Center in Newark along with 3,000 other students from schools throughout the NJ/NY/CT area. Interested students may also take piano lessons for a fee and perform in a school recital in May.
Martial Arts
We offer a weekly afternoon martial arts class in Tong-il Moo Do, a unified martial arts that incorporates styles from various traditions, including karate, judo, tae kwon do, and kung fu. Students are instructed by a black belt grand master in self-defense techniques as well as in the internal aspects of the discipline, emphasizing self-control and mind-body unity.
Mad Science
In the fall and spring, we offer special classes in science and technology once a week as part of the aftercare program. Here students are given opportunities to both learn and apply science and technology in interesting and innovative ways. Subjects are robotics, exploring outer space, brixology, game design, and apprenticing in various types of engineering, including chemical, electronic, industrial, aerospace, environmental, and mechanical. Classes are offered by Mad Science.
Drama Club
This once-a-week club allows students to learn acting, develop their stage presence, boost their self-confidence, and experience freedom of expression and creativity. The club puts on skits as part of the school’s Winter Concert and Graduation Concert as well as performing a stand-alone show in honor of Black History Month at the end of February.