Paragon Curriculum

Paragon Curriculum K – 5

The Paragon K – 5 program is also renowned for its community-building qualities. The entire K – 5 student body embarks each year on a chronological journey through the history of great ideas and great people in time and place. All six grade layers are engaged in study of the same historical era, while visiting different parts of the globe and entertaining age-appropriate essential questions and inquiry-based lessons. Paragon is truly unique because it replaces the traditional history, social studies, geography and civics curricula, contributes to education reform, balances cultural literacy content with hands-on learning and fulfills state and national standards in the content areas and across the curriculum.  Indeed, if a student were to major in an interdisciplinary program like Paragon at the university level, s/he would have courses in virtually every department on campus.

Paragon Humanities – Grades 6-10

The spiral design of the acclaimed Paragon Curriculum in K – 5 continues to build depth through multiple layers in Paragon Humanities, Grades 6 – 10. As with the K – 5 Paragon Curriculum, the middle school continuation of the program actively employs effective teaching strategies in every lesson and replaces the traditional Social Studies, History and Geography curricula. To engage all learners and to render sophisticated and esoteric content both relevant and accessible, middle school teachers in a Mosaica-model charter school use graphic organizers to lay out information in categories and in relation to other ideas. They establish relevance for students by activating prior knowledge and by drawing them into the new content skillfully through Socratic questioning. In the true spirit of constructivism, Mosaica middle school students literally construct their own textbooks in Paragon Humanities with their elaborate Interactive Paragon Binders. Moreover, teachers cultivate invaluable Emotional Intelligence in middle school students through collaborative group work, personal connection journaling, role-play, and the study of heroes in history in Paragon Humanities. By examining closely the timeless attributes that allow ordinary people to take on and succeed with extraordinary challenges throughout history and across cultural boundaries, students come to appreciate the legacy that precedes them and to aspire to their own unique contributions to the world.

The Mosaica Education Model in Grades 6 – 10 builds depth through multiple layers with vertical articulation from one grade layer to the next, the model can also operate as a stand-alone High School program featuring the IB Diploma Programme in Grades 11 and 12.

Paragon Seminars – Grades 11 & 12

Grades 11 and 12 will feature Paragon Seminars at the heart of its Diploma Programme. As Paragon moves from an exploration of historical time and place, to an exploration of the modern world and self in Grades 11 and 12, this series of question-based seminars focused on ethical issues will continue and bring to academic fruition. It will engage students in the hands-on study of great ideas and generate connections across the curriculum, encompassing the disciplines of social science, history, drama, music, art, geography, literature, philosophy, ethics, economics and scientific innovation. Essentially, a focus on ethics, integrates the arts and sciences within each individual student.

The focus on “self and world” which is at the heart of the study of ethics links the high school curriculum to what we have already created with Paragon in several ways. It continues the question-based focus on self and world; it continues to foster connections between disciplines, and it continues to look at great people and great ideas as models and exemplars. The focus on “self and world” will also serve the adolescent community of Mosaica students in a compelling and relevant manner. Focusing on the study of ethics in high school, allows students to understand how their study of world history in primary and middle school has prepared them to make decisions, to question, and to lead. Finally, a recurring focus on ethics will strengthen the school’s culture as a pillar of pride in the local community and as a force for educational reform. Moreover, the focus on self and world featured in U.S. and world history in Grades 9 and 10 will be taken to a level of practical application in Grades 11 and 12. Students will learn through their study of history and ethics to think globally and to act locally. This will prepare them for the IB Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course, and will culminate in a Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) project, all hallmarks of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.

By studying the history of great ideas in world culture through Paragon K – 12, and in reflecting upon prospective advancements and contributions that they might make with their unique strengths and passions through their work with the International Baccalaureate, Mosaica students prepare purposefully to become the conscious architects of tomorrow.