Academics
From the beginning, New Hope School has sought to create a rigorous curriculum to challenge its students both spiritually and intellectually.
In 2008, we adopted a curriculum created by the Core Knowledge Foundation, which is a challenging comprehensive academic program. In addition to our academic program, we seek to promote family values to develop our students’ heart and character in preparation for an adult life of living for the sake of others.
Our program is designed to help students fulfill three basic life goals:
To develop a mature character
To build caring relationships with others
To make a positive contribution to society
Kindergarten
LANGUAGE ARTS: listening and speaking, reading, writing, language conventions, poetry, fiction including Aesop’s Fables, sayings and phrases
HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: world and American geography, early exploration and settlement, US presidents, symbols and figures
VISUAL ARTS: elements of art, sculpture, looking at and talking about works of art
MUSIC: elements of music, listening and understanding, songs
MATHEMATICS: patterns and classification, numbers and number sense, money, computation, measurement, geometry
SCIENCE: plants and plant growth, animals and their needs, the human body, introduction to magnetism, seasons and weather, taking care of the Earth, science biographies
1st Grade
LANGUAGE ARTS: listening and speaking, reading including fiction and non-fiction works, narrative and informative writing, language conventions, poetry, fiction including Aesop’s Fables, sayings and phrases
HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: world history including early and modern civilizations, American history including early people and civilizations, early exploration and settlement, the American Revolution, early exploration of the American West, symbols and figures
VISUAL ARTS: art from long ago, elements of art, kinds of pictures
MUSIC: elements of music, listening and understanding, songs
MATHEMATICS: patterns and classification, numbers and number sense, money, computation including addition and subtraction, measurement, geometry
SCIENCE: living things and their environments, the human body, matter and properties of matter, introduction to electricity, astronomy, the Earth, science biographies
2nd Grade
LANGUAGE ARTS: listening and speaking, reading including fiction and non-fiction works, narrative, informative, and persuasive writing, language conventions, poetry, fiction including mythology of Ancient Greece, sayings and phrases
HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: world history including ancient civilizations, American history including the US constitution, westward expansion, the Civil War, immigration and citizenship, fighting for a cause, geography of the Americas, symbols and figures
VISUAL ARTS: art from long ago, elements of art, kinds of pictures, abstract art, architecture
MUSIC: elements of music, listening and understanding, songs
MATHEMATICS: numbers and number sense, fractions, money, computation including multiplication, measurement, geometry
SCIENCE: cycles in nature, insects, the human body, magnetism, simple machines, science biographies
3rd Grade
LANGUAGE ARTS: reading and writing including grammar and vocabulary, poetry, fiction including myths and mythical characters, sayings and phrases
HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: world history including the Ancient Roman civilization and the Vikings, American history including the earliest Americans, early exploration of North America and the thirteen colonies
VISUAL ARTS: elements of art, Native American art, art of Ancient Rome and Byzantine civilizations
MUSIC: elements of music, listening and understanding, songs
MATHEMATICS: numbers and number sense, fractions and decimals, money, computation including division, measurement, geometry
SCIENCE: introduction to classification of animals, the human body, magnetism, light and optics, sound, ecology, astronomy, science biographies
4th Grade
LANGUAGE ARTS: writing and research, grammar and usage, poetry, fiction including myths and mythical characters, speeches, sayings and phrases
HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: world geography, history in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and China, American history including the American Revolution, making a constitutional government, early presidents and politics, reformers, symbols and figures
VISUAL ARTS: art of Middle Ages in Europe, Islamic art and architecture, the art of Africa, the art of China, the art of the US
MUSIC: elements of music, listening and understanding, songs
MATHEMATICS: numbers and number sense, fractions and decimals, money, computation including multiplication and division, measurement, geometry
SCIENCE: the human body, basic chemistry, electricity, geology, meteorology, science biographies
5th Grade
LANGUAGE ARTS: writing and research, grammar and usage, vocabulary, poetry, fiction including myths and legends, speeches, sayings and phrases
HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: world geography, early American civilizations, European exploration and trade, the Renaissance and the Reformation, England in the Golden Age, Russian early history, feudal Japan, American history including westward expansion, the Civil War, Native Americans, US geography
VISUAL ARTS: art of the Renaissance, 19th century American art, art of Japan
MUSIC: elements of music, listening and understanding, American musical traditions, songs
MATHEMATICS: numbers and number sense, ratio and percent, fractions and decimals, computation including multiplication and division, measurement, geometry, probability and statistics, pre-algebra
SCIENCE: classifying living things, cells, plant structures and processes, life cycles and reproduction, the human body, chemistry, science biographies
6th Grade
ENGLISH: writing and research, grammar and usage, spelling, vocabulary, poems and terms, fiction and drama, sayings and phrases
HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: world geography, lasting ideas from ancient civilizations, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, Romanticism, industrialism, capitalism, and socialism, Latin American independence movements, American history including immigration, industrialization, and urbanization, reform
VISUAL ARTS: art history, classical art, Gothic art, art of the Renaissance, Baroque art, Rococo art, neoclassical and romantic art, realism art
MUSIC: elements of music, classical music from Baroque to Romantic
MATHEMATICS: numbers and number sense, ratio, percent, and proportion, computation including multiplication and division, measurement, geometry, probability and statistics, pre-algebra
SCIENCE: plate tectonics, oceans, astronomy, energy, heat, energy transfer, the human body, chemistry, science biographies
7th Grade
ENGLISH: writing and research, grammar and usage, spelling, vocabulary, elements of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, drama, foreign phrases commonly used in English
HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: America becomes a world power, World War I, the Russian Revolution, America from the 1920s to the New Deal, World War II, geography of the US
VISUAL ARTS: art history, impressionism, post-impressionism, expressionism and abstraction, modern American painting
MUSIC: elements of music, classical music: Romantics and Nationalists, American musical traditions including blues and jazz
MATHEMATICS: pre-algebra, geometry including three-dimensional objects, probability and statistics
SCIENCE: atomic structure, chemical bonds and reactions, cell division and genetics, history of the Earth and life forms, evolution, science biographies
8th Grade
ENGLISH: writing and research, grammar and usage, spelling, vocabulary, elements of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, drama, foreign phrases commonly used in English
HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY: the decline of European colonialism, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War and the rise of social activism, the Middle East and oil politics, the end of the Cold War and the expansion of democracy and its challenges, the US Constitution, geography of Canada and Mexico
VISUAL ARTS: art history, painting since World War II, photography, 20th century sculpture, architecture since the Industrial Revolution
MUSIC: elements of music, non-western music, classical music including modern music, vocal music
MATHEMATICS: algebra including quadratic equations and functions, analytic geometry including introduction to trigonometry, triangles, and proofs
SCIENCE: physics, electricity and magnetism, electromagnetic radiation and light, sound waves, chemistry of food and respiration, science biographies
+ After School Care
After Care Hours
3:00-4:00 pm Play time
4:00-5:00 pm Homework time
5:00-5:30 pm Free time
After Care Fee
$8.00/ hour
After Care Activities
There are a number of activities students can take part in during after care. Sign up your child for one or more of these clubs and activities.
+ Club & Activities
Students engage in a vibrant series of activities both inside and outside the classroom.
From classroom discussions and debates to various after school activities, New Hope School seeks to challenge its students to develop their talents and skills in a number of different fields.
Art Club
This once-a-week club allows students to develop their artistic skills and to pursue creative projects over a several week period. Students are exposed to different types of art, including but not limited to, finger-painting, oils, acrylics, and water colors, drawing, and sculpture.
Dance
We offer dance classes for both older and younger students once a week. Students learn basic and more advanced dance moves in various styles such as hip hop and classical. The dance class performs twice a year at the annual Winter Concert and Graduation Concert.
Choir
Students may also join the school choir, the New Hope Singers Junior, which performs at the Clifton City Hall and senior citizens clubs each year. This past year our choir participated for the fourth time in the Young Voices concert along with 8,000 other students from schools throughout the NJ/NY/CT area. Interested students may also receive piano lessons for a fee and perform in a school recital each May.
Martial Arts
We offer a weekly afternoon martial arts class in Tong-il Moo Do, a unified martial arts that incorporates styles from various traditions, including karate, judo, tae kwon do, and kung fu. Students are instructed by a black belt grand master in self-defense techniques as well as in the internal aspects of the discipline, emphasizing self-control and mind-body unity.
Mad Science
In the fall and spring, we offer special classes in science and technology once a week as part of the aftercare program. Here students are given opportunities to both learn and apply science and technology in interesting and innovative ways. Subjects are robotics, exploring outer space, brixology, game design, and apprenticing in various types of engineering, including chemical, electronic, industrial, aerospace, environmental, and mechanical. Classes are offered by Mad Science.
Drama Club
This once a week club allows students to learn acting, develop their stage presence, and boost their self-confidence, and freedom of expression and creativity. The club puts on skits as part of the school’s Winter Concert and Graduation Concert as well as performing a stand-alone show in honor of Black History Month at the end of February.
Experience why our children are HAPPY to learn!
About Us
New Hope School welcomes students regardless of race, gender, national and ethnic origin, and is non discriminatory in all our policies.