Early Elementary at Mastery
Early education is the most important time in a child’s life. At Mastery, the Early Elementary (grades K-2) experience nurtures the development of social and emotional, physical, cognitive, and language needs. Each child deserves to feel valued and included in the learning community. Therefore, we work tirelessly to cultivate strong relationships, which is at the heart of the work we do.

138
97
Our Approach to Early Elementary
- Morning Meeting daily
- Second Step
- Cooperative Play in Kindergarten and 1st Grade
Students develop physical, emotional, social, and cognitive skills while learning and playing with their classmates. These skills are critical in ensuring students build self-awareness and empathy for others. Cooperative play is an important part of the day where students have fun and develop strategies for conflict resolution, cooperation, sharing, and turn-taking.
135 minutes daily of literacy instruction:
- Wheatley Reading and Writing
- Small group individualized reading instruction through Literacy Centers independent learning)
- Fundations – a multi-sensory and systematic phonics, spelling, and handwriting program.
Students participate in daily Common Core-aligned reading and writing lessons through KIPP Wheatley. In Reading Centers, students receive individualized and small-group reading instruction through Fundations, and independent learning.
90 minutes of daily math instruction:
- Eureka
- Responsive Math
The structure ensures fidelity to Eureka Math: A Story of Units, while providing routine time for responsive instruction to meet all students’ needs. Students learn grade-level content, by engaging in aligned fluency routines, high-quality tasks, problem sets, class discussions, and mathematical models to explore mathematical concepts and skills. Ongoing facilitated discussions offer students the opportunity to learn from their peers’ thinking. Students solidify their learning through extended application, practice of the mathematics and the lesson debrief. Students explore mathematical concepts through the use of manipulatives and word problems. Students share their thinking about how to solve problems and learn from other students in the process.
Learn more about our K-12 Math program here.
1st and 2nd Grade only
Students learn Science and Social Studies through an integrated course that is teacher developed. Students get a hands-on experience as they explore various topics. (Note: Scheduling for Science/Social Studies is a school-based decision). We currently use Amplify and TCI programming.
Students participate in at least 40 minutes of enrichment daily:
- Spanish, PE, music, art, etc.
Students have the opportunity to learn about music and art. They also play instruments and create artwork that reflects them. Students may also learn to speak and write a foreign language. In P.E. students play and exercise together indoors or outdoors.