JOY + RIGOR

  • Grounded in Brain Research

    Cognitive scientists know that operating in a student’s unique Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), just beyond their perceived capacity, facilitates the most efficient learning.

  • Delight

    Educational studies have demonstrated that positive social interactions provide a fertile and perhaps unexpectedly vital environment for metacognition. Feeling comfort and joy is the optimal state to accelerate learning. Adhering to an ambitious curriculum, we expect a lot of our students and they are ready meet the challenge because they are happy.

  • Seen and Known

    We believe that how children learn is as important as what they learn: Process and content go hand in hand. Just as the curriculum is tailored to the individual, joy may be singularly defined for each student. As educators of the whole child, we recognize and address each student’s social-emotional and academic needs.

Frequent Measurement

Beginning in the 4th grade, we conduct testing with Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) three times each academic year. The NWEA MAP Growth assessments measure individual student growth and proficiency as well as the student’s position in national comparisons of proficiency and performance. Because the test questions are adaptive, meaning subsequent questions are determined by the student’s previous answers, the evaluation is individualized and precise. The tests provide our teachers with actionable, accurate data in math, science, and reading which allows for personalized instruction. The tests also furnish statistical evidence of achievement.

According to local news outlets, New Jersey students broadly underperformed in the first post-pandemic statewide assessment tests administered in the spring. In response to the “learning loss evident from a drop in standardized test scores,” the New Jersey Commissioner of Education urged adult volunteers with a call to action to act as tutors, mentors, and coaches. “There will also be a $135 million investment in ‘high impact tutoring’ through a grant from the American Rescue Plan funds for New Jersey students.”

In contrast to these concerning statewide statistics, Mustard Seed data analysis paints a rosy picture. In Fall 2020, grades 4-8 MSS students outperformed their peers in Reading not only in the state of New Jersey, but across the nation. Student scores in grades 5-8 greatly surpassed national counterparts in Math. Unlike peer schools, Mustard Seed numbers did not remain the same or decrease from 2019 to 2020; their numbers improved—substantially—during the COVID interruption and continues today. Considering the fact that our teachers do not teach to the test, these figures are especially impressive! 

Responsive Classrooms

Knowing the children we teach—individually, culturally, and developmentally—is as important as knowing the content we teach. Although we teach to New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) and above, and have a predetermined two-year thematic cycle for our study units, there is also space in the curriculum across all grades to honor student interests. Read about the preschool teachers’ response to their students’ heightened curiosity about spiders here in Inspire, our school magazine.

World Languages

Studies have shown that second language acquisition is heightened when students are relaxed and enjoying themselves. Rather than rote memorization, Mustard Seed  provides a stimulating, authentic world language environment. 

Beginning in second grade, students learn Spanish using the method called, Teaching Proficiency through the Reading and Storytelling (TPRS).  Students acquire language through immediate oral and written pre-reading stories that are highly scaffolded and visually supported. Storytelling is question-based, interactive, fast-paced and assessed.  Children begin with stories such as Jorge era un chico and a co-constructed third grade story called Tofu y Flaco. They read El Capibara con botas, Brandon Brown quiere un perro, Brandon Brown dice la verdad, El Ekeko: un misterio boliviano, El Chico global, and El Escape Cubano. Students are assessed orally and through quick quizzes after each story. They develop and are assessed in written proficiency. Students acquire independence at the word level and by the end of their Mustard Seed School career should be able to communicate both orally and in written form at the short paragraph level. All students gain fluency in a highly curated vocabulary that allows use of the present, simple past, simple future, imperfect past tenses for all grades immediately. 

In our first year participating in the The National Spanish Exam (NSE), three students participated in the National Spanish Challenge and all three were awarded Gold Ribbons. Of the seventeen students who participated in the National Spanish Exam, three students were awarded medals, one gold, one silver, and one bronze. Six students received Honors. All students outperformed in the proficiency and comprehension section of the exam.

Last year, nine students were awarded ribbons in the National Spanish Challenge and ten were honored for their scores in the NSE. One seventh grade student earned a gold medal with a perfect score. Of the 85,000 examinees participating across the United States, only 217 students merited a perfect score.