Lower Division | Upper Division
The high school program employs a three-part strategy, equally emphasizing academics and remediation; success attributes such as self-advocacy, leadership, and problem solving; and skills emphasizing the necessary preparation for a productive and independent life.
Students in the upper division focus on transitioning beyond The Janus School, whether it be college, military, or employment. An advisory class teaches students to be less dependent on one-to-one tutoring, using learning strategies and technology specific to their needs.
High school courses contribute toward a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania high school diploma, with grades and transcripts maintained throughout a student's enrollment at Janus. Seniors participate in an internship program, where they develop career goals and apply learned skills to a non-academic setting.
The language arts curriculum supports The Janus School's emphasis on fundamental skill development. Students in the Upper Division attend a reading and writing class. The reading class focuses on comprehension of literature appropriate for every student's learning and skill profile. The writing classes develop students' ability to fully express themselves through a variety of writing styles.
Speech and language services are available to those students who might benefit from specialized instruction as determined by the speech and language pathologist in consultation with instructional teams. Formalized assessment is used to design the program utilizing mostly compensatory strategies to enable the student to achieve their highest potential. Communication is important for the teachers and parents to assist with carryover into the classroom and community as well as to help the student to understand their needs and become a self-advocate.
Science is an area offering great potential for many students with learning differences because of their capacity for divergent and creative thinking. Science content in the lower division is selected from the life, earth and physical sciences; in the upper division, students meet state graduation requirements and enroll in physics, chemistry, biology, and earth/environmental science classes. Lab experiences and investigation and inquiry-based exercises support the curriculum, which emphasizes strengthening students' understanding of scientific processes rather than remembering facts.
Mathematics instruction at Janus is rigorously systematic and each lesson connects to previous learning. Skills and procedures are introduced slowly and practiced repeatedly until students are adept. The lower division faculty uses the Saxon Math series as the core component of their curriculum, supplemented by strategies that individualize the instruction for every child. The upper division faculty uses the AGS Series, supplemented by other materials, which individualize curriculum and support the students' applications of concepts.
The social studies curriculum helps students develop a growing understanding of geography and the impact the past has on the present and future. With this type of objective, instruction is focused on directly teaching students how to assimilate, sequence, and problem solve, in order to teach students how social studies impacts their lives and community, as well as the lives and communities' of others.
The Upper Division social studies classes include Geography, US History, World History, Ancient History, and Senior Seminars.
Socialization and communication skills classes (SoCom) are a unique component of the curriculum at The Janus School. Helping a student to reach his or her potential requires effective socialization and communication skills, as well as the appropriate academic instruction. These abilities cannot be separated when planning the best instruction for a student.
SoCom guides students to self-awareness in understanding their individual learning differences and the impact on all aspects of life. Metacognition studies encourage students to become knowledgeable about their learning differences, discovering and applying effective strategies, and learning to appropriately advocate for themselves both in and out of the school setting.
Additional SoCom topics include:
Teachings of the SoCom curriculum focus on the relationship between rights and responsibilities and are reinforced throughout all programs at The Janus School. It is the expectation that the entire Janus community supports the rights to safety, respect, and learning for all individuals.
In addition, the entire school focuses on a "character education" piece each month, such as honesty, friendship, and tolerance.
Whether in a music and movement class, theater club, or participating in the all-school play, all Janus students are encouraged to participate in our performing arts program. Students interpret dialogue, memorize lines, learn patterns of choreography, work collaboratively, design and build sets, and demonstrate time management skills to creatively apply the very skills they work so hard to remediate.
Students are encouraged to explore music, dance and theatre through annual events such as the Holiday Concert and the All-School Play. The low student-teacher ratio provides a supportive environment in which students will feel comfortable to try something new.
A meaningful, comprehensive art program accomplishes much more than providing students with an alternative to traditional academics. Curriculum and instructional techniques are designed to help students acquire and strengthen these specific skills (at the appropriate level of development):
Art instruction begins with a student's current level of artistic development. A student's learning style, age, interests, and potential difficulties should also be considered. A combination of step-by-step instruction, concrete examples, and modeling of specific skills are vital to helping students acquire new ones. Allowing students time to practice and then apply those skills to their projects builds their confidence, and allows them to better communicate their ideas. Herein lies the fundamental difference in The Janus School art program in comparison to a traditional school setting.
The skills needed to be successful in art parallel the cognitive abilities needed to be successful in the classroom. Weaknesses in these skills have a greater impact on performance in traditional academic tasks than on determining "artistic success or failure." That is why art instruction is important for all students, not just those who may demonstrate potential or achievement in the arts.
Determining development stages
To help us define where to begin instruction, it is vital that we assess a student's current level of artistic development by analyzing their drawings.
Manipulative stage
Young children begin by merely making marks on a page, or writing in the dirt or even on the wall. Once they realize they are responsible for the marks, they begin to experiment and learn to control their movements.
Pre-schematic stage
As the child matures, round shapes appear in their drawings called "mandelas." The mandela then becomes a face with legs, known as the "tadpole." At this time, children will begin to define the things and people in their world with visual symbols. A rabbit may appear as a human-like figure with bunny ears. Their drawings are repetitive and have little regard for realistic color. The children will also begin to copy letters or pretend to write. Children do not distinguish between the written word and pictures, thus including both when creating images.
Schematic stage
This stage begins when a child defines the ground or places objects on the bottom of the page. This is referred to as a "baseline" and is the first step in defining space and how objects relate to one another in space. They are still trying to understand how to show space in their work, so they will draw things like a house that you can see through the walls to what is inside. Symbols become more complex and show defining details.
Preadolescent
Students enter this stage when they begin to show accurate overlapping, objects going off the page, and advanced development of their visual symbols. This is the most important transition because it signifies the change from the concrete to the abstract. During this time, children are often frustrated and unsatisfied with their work; they will strive for extreme realism and may begin to dislike art if they do not think that they are succeeding in the subject. At this time, students can be introduced to perspective and other specific painting and drawing techniques, but are often more comfortable with abstract designs because they do not need to look realistic.
All students are enrolled in health and wellness. The course is designed to educate students in the social, emotional, and physical components of a healthy lifestyle.
Students learn about issues in the context of making responsible choices, as well as take part in a physical education curriculum. Topics such as personal health, disease, nutrition, stress management, safety, and drug and alcohol education will be discussed and geared toward the appropriate grade level and student learning profile. In addition to class work related to social and emotional aspects of health, each student establishes his or her personal goals as they relate to the social, emotional and physical components of a healthy lifestyle. Students work to meet the goals throughout the year.
The course objectives include teaching content, encouraging each student's self-growth, and instructing students how to integrate information to make lifelong decisions.