Elementary School

ISK has developed its curriculum to ensure all of our students can find success, regardless of their background or next challenge. Our curriculum is based on the Common Core standards from the U.S. However we also take elements from the Canadian Physical and Health Education standards, National Language standards from France, Germany, and Poland, AERO Standards for our Social Studies curriculum, and Next Generation Science Standards. We approach each area from an inquiry based learning foundation and draw on the Readers and Writers Workshop model in Language arts.

Our students are fortunate in being able to learn guided by a highly qualified, caring, multicultural staff reflecting the composition of our student body as well. All of the Homeroom teachers in Elementary are Native English speakers from the U.S. and Canada with subject area teachers coming from Poland, Italy, the U.K., and France. Our assistant teachers are also exceptional as they are not only (at least) bilingual in English and Polish, they are also fully qualified with their teaching degrees.

Believing in the value of languages in the development of our students as world citizens, ISK offers a range of both Native Language and Foreign Language courses. Students in grades 0 (KG) through 2 may have Native Polish or French or Foreign Polish. In grades 3 through 5, we offer Native Polish, Native French and Intercultural Polish Studies which combines Polish geography, history, culture and language. As well, students have an option of Foreign Spanish, French, and German. When we have enough interest, we will also offer Native German classes.

We are fortunate to be located just south of Kraków in Lusina on a secure, gated campus. Surrounded by forests with large open areas on campus our students have ready access to nature and space to play. The classrooms are all designed to encourage our students to learn in cooperative groups with areas for class meetings, work in centers, and independent learning. We have an indoor gym (affectionately called "the Bubble"), a synthetic sports field. two playgrounds, a multipurpose room, including a food service area, for assemblies and our lunch hours, purpose built music and art rooms, and a library containing the second largest English book collection in Poland.

We understand that students have different strengths and needs. Our Student Services team includes a Counselor, Learning Support specialists, a nurse, and English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers. As well, all teachers actively support their students through differentiation in the classroom and support outside of the classroom when needed within the Response to Intervention (RTI) model.

For families that wish, the school recommends both a Mini-Van transportation service and a restaurant service used regularly by our community. The transportation runs door-to-door routes in the morning and at the end of both the regular day and activities. Our restaurant service is run by "Must Eat for Kids" and ordering is done on-line and served in the cafeteria. We also have a nurse on site full time, and a pediatrician who comes once a week to offer free service to our community.