Located at 2176 Marilyn Street in Clearwater, The dePaul School’s Traditional program is designed to establish a strong foundation in reading, writing and math skills for students in grades 1-4. Orton-Gillingham based, multisensory instruction, structured linguistics and teaching to mastery are the key elements of this program. Flexible grouping and ongoing assessments ensure that learners move through this program as slowly as they need to but as fast as they can. In addition to Math, Science and Socials studies, students take four classes of direct instruction in literacy every day:
- dePaul Structured Linguistics (DPSL), the program on which the school was built, incorporates phonics, vocabulary, grammar, cursive handwriting and more!
- Power Reading teaches strategies for decoding and spelling increasingly complex words using the Orton-Gillingham method.
- In Reading, comprehension strategies taught and skills learned in DPSL and Power Reading are applied to text.
- Using SRA’s Reasoning and Writing, students focus on organization, editing, word choice, and supporting main ideas with relevant details.
Multisensory Math Instruction
- Moving from what is known to what is new
- Reviewing previous concepts to keep them from being forgotten
- Focusing on the language and vocabulary of mathematics
- Learning to read word problems
Students also have Science, Social Studies and PE class every day. Art and Music classes occur one time each week.