Notre Dame Marist Academy Lower Division
What is the Primary Years Programme?
Notre Dame is an authorized International Baccalaureate World School, offering the Primary Years Programme to students in Junior Kindergarten through Grade 5. The PYP focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world outside. The most significant and distinctive feature of the PYP is the six transdisciplinary themes. These themes are about issues that have meaning for, and are important to, all of us. The programme offers a balance between learning about or through the subject areas, and learning beyond them. The six themes of global significance create a transdisciplinary framework that allows students to “step up” beyond the confines of learning within subject areas. • Who we are • Where we are in place and time • How we express ourselves • How the world works • How we organize ourselves • Sharing the planet
The Five Essential Elements The five essential elements — concepts, knowledge, skills, attitudes, action — are incorporated into the PYP framework so that students are given the opportunity to: • gain knowledge that is relevant and of global significance. • develop an understanding of concepts, which allows them to make connections throughout their learning. • acquire transdisciplinary and disciplinary skills. • develop attitudes that will lead to international-mindedness. • demonstrate deeper learning and responsible behavior through responsible action; a manifestation in practice of the other essential elements.
The Learner Profile The learner profile describes a list of attributes that promote academic rigor and the establishing of a personal value system leading to international-mindedness. The programme encourages students to become:
Balanced Inquirers Caring
Reflective Communicators
Principled
Risk-Takers
Open-Minded
Thinkers
Knowledgeable
Notre Dame Marist Academy — Lower Division
IB in action
From the Start
What’s different about Notre Dame? Students learn with purpose. Consider some of these major lessons and how they fit into the IB framework.
After joining Notre Dame as a 1st grader in 2003-04 — the year the Lower Division opened — Hailey Atkins (photo, second from right) came to personify the school’s ideal student: Christian person, upright citizen, and academic scholar. Having graduated with high honors in 2015 with certificates in excellence for business and religious studies, Hailey earned admittance to the Michigan State University Eli Broad School of Business as a freshman in East Lansing. She plans to major in supply chain management.
KINDERGARTEN — Kindergartners benefit from experiential learning, with field trips to places such as the Detroit Zoo and Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth. As part of their unit “How the World Works,” students investigate the significance of motion in their lives through a visit to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. Here they are able to inquire, explore, observe, learn, and apply their knowledge through hands-on activities. At the end of the unit, students use several apps on their iPads to demonstrate motion in their lives, while also engaging in a one-on-one interview with their classroom teacher. Through the interview, students explain why they chose their pictures and how those images represent motion in their world.
GRADE 1 — When presented with the transdisciplinary theme “Where We Are In Place And Time,” 1st-grade students explore how people and events of the past affect our lives today. Students take a field trip to the EL Johnson Nature Center in Bloomfield Hills to experience what it is like to live like a child in the pioneer days, spending the morning in a real log cabin furnished with all the comforts of a home from the late 1800s. As a summative assessment at the end of the six-week unit, students utilize their technology skills to create a digital story with Web 2.0 tools, such as Prezi or Animoto. These stories reflect students’ understandings of the similarities and differences connecting generations. GRADE 4 — When considering the transdisciplinary theme “How We Organize Ourselves,” 4th-grade students investigate how a country’s industries and resources contribute to its economic success. To demonstrate their understanding, students participate in a classroom “Mini-Economy” project, for which they are asked to conceptualize a unique product, do market research to see who would be interested in purchasing the product, then create, advertise and sell the product to the student body. Through this unit of study, 4th-graders gain knowledge of concepts impacting our global economy, such as supply and demand, profit, loss and cost. GRADE 5 — Each spring every 5th-grade student participates in the Exhibition, the culminating project for the Primary Years Programme. Students are placed into small groups based upon their interest in a topic meaningful to them, then work collaboratively over a six-week period to research the topic, conduct interviews with experts, and synthesize their findings for an oral and visual presentation. Students also must present an action plan to explain how they will help solve the problem they have discovered in our global community.
Hailey made the most of her 12 years at Notre Dame. An avid athlete, she competed in golf, basketball and softball all four years of high school to earn the coveted “Dirty Dozen” award. She was a two-sport team captain and one of just eight students in her 180-member graduating class to be recognized with a “Spirit of the Fighting Irish” award, which recognizes athletes who embody the school mission, display an overall positive attitude, demonstrate good sportsmanship, and show dedication to their team(s). Beyond the fields of play, Hailey was a member of the National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society. She also involved herself in NDP’s Peer Ministry program, specifically assisting with the Retreat Commission for four years. In her “spare” time, Hailey participated in Christians in Action for two years. And after joining the Varsity Club as a sophomore, she became vice president as a senior. During her time at the lower and middle divisions, Hailey served on student council and performed in multiple school plays while balancing a busy CYO sports schedule. Experiencing these myriad activities over more than a decade gave Hailey the chance to discover herself. “Notre Dame had so many opportunities for me to grab a hold of,” Hailey says. “Being exposed to extracurriculars so young, I was able to find what I enjoy doing. As I matured into who I am today, I discovered all my passions and strengths.”
Notre Dame is special.
Students at Notre Dame Marist Academy — Lower Division have many opportunities to explore beyond the traditional “three Rs.” BEYOND THE Rs All students at Notre Dame take traditional classroom subjects, as well as Religion, every day. They also take additional classes — referred to as “specials” — in Spanish, Music, Art, Technology, Library and Physical Education. The frequency of those classes on a weekly basis is detailed below.
JK
K 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Spanish
5X 5X 5X 5X 5X 5X 5X
Music
3X 3X 3X 3X 3X 3X 3X
Art
2X 2X 2X 2X 2X 2X 2X
Technology
2X 2X 2X 2X 2X 2X 2X
Library
1X 1X 1X 1X 1X 1X 1X
Physical Education
1X 1X 1X 1X 1X 1X 1X
Notre Dame Marist Academy — Lower Division (grades JK–5) 1425 Giddings Rd., Pontiac, MI 48340 | Admissions: 248-373-1061 ndpma.org