Teachers base instruction on the Indiana State Standards and document the standards in lesson plan books and weekly frameworks. Textbooks and outside resources are used in planning.

Collaborative teaching teams plan at grade level providing an opportunity to share "Best Practices" and to focus on a cohesive and comprehensive spiral curriculum.

Academic Programs at Mary Castle School of International Studies

All Mary Castle students benefit from a high degree of technology integration, a well-established media center, weekly physical education, art, music, introduction to the Spanish language, and Math Pentathlon.

Gifted and Talented Program

Mary Castle School of International Studies is the home to Gifted and Talented classes in grades one through six to serve the entire Lawrence Community. The academic goals of the Gifted and Talented program are to provide maximum acquisition of basic skills, acceleration of content, interdisciplinary curriculum, and to emphasize in-depth study enrichment activities. Thinking skills and independent study and research skills are also enhanced in this program.

• View more information regarding STRETCH on the district site.

Special Education

Mary Castle School of Interntational Studies has several programs to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Classes for students with needs across the continuum of disability labels are individualized for each student according to his or her individual educational plan while reinforcing the proficiency standards of education. Educational services are provided for children based on their specific and unique educational needs. Mary Castle prides itself on providing services such as assisted technology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech and language therapy. These supports are provided to children to meet their needs in the least restrictive environment possible.

• View more information about Special Education at MSDLT.

ESOL

Beginning in the fall of the 2001-2002 school year Mary Castle launched a program designed to meet the needs of students whose native language is other than English. Students receive instruction in their first language while learning English as their second other language.

• View more information about ESOL on our district site.

Technology

Technology serves as a tool for classroom instruction and practice. It is incorporated throughout the school day. Individual classrooms provide a variety of experiences for students, including student produced newsletters, PowerPoint presentations, and other student generated pieces within the classroom. All of the classrooms in grades one through sixth have Promethean Boards that are used with in the presentation of information to students, but also students actively partcipate with the technology through a hands-on approach to learning. Each classroom teacher has a digital camera to document student learning. There are two computer labs with Promethean Boards that students have access to when taking standardized assessments, gathering information for presentations, and project that all tie into our International focus.

Leveled Library

Mary Castle has a library of books that are leveled by difficulty to meet individual students level of learning. The leveled library has more than 20,000 books for teachers to use with their Guided Reading groups.