Our Program
At Truesdell Elementary School our approach is designed to help our students grow both in and out of the classroom. Each day is filled with opportunities to experience new educational and social situations to further their development. Our teachers create a safe and open learning environment, where they facilitate students' exploration of the world around them. The videos on this page will give you insight into what we offer our students on a daily basis.
All Videos
Early Childhood Education
Early Childhood Education
Multilingual Learning
The Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood Education
A curriculum in which students learn through creative and active teaching strategies. Creative curriculum gets beyond rote learning and focuses on big ideas, interesting projects, and individual students' passions and needs. to learn more about The Creative Curriculum click here.
Wilson's Fundations for Early Literacy
As a recognized leader in multi-sensory, structured language programs, Wilson brings more than a decade of systematic and explicit instruction to the K-3 classroom. Based on the Wilson Reading System® principles, Wilson Fundations® provides research-based materials and strategies essential to a comprehensive reading, spelling, and handwriting program. To learn more about Wilson's Fundations, click here.
The Guided Reading Approach
Guided reading is a small-group instructional context in which a teacher supports each reader's development of systems of strategic actions for processing new texts at increasingly challenging levels of difficulty. During guided reading, students in a small-group setting individually read a text that the teacher has selected at their instructional reading level. The teacher provides teaching across the lesson to support students in building the in-the-head networks of strategic actions for processing increasingly challenging texts. Through guided reading, students learn how to engage in every facet of the reading process and apply that literacy power to all instructional contexts. To learn more about the guided reading practice click here.
Eureka Math²™
A revolutionary math program designed to ensure that students move beyond rote memorization to build enduring math knowledge. It takes everything you love about Eureka Math—consistent math models, rigor to support the productive struggle, and coherence across lessons, modules, and grades—and adds a new level of flexibility and accessibility as well as visibility into student understanding to make math instruction exponentially more teachable and engaging. To learn more about Eureka Math²™ click here.
Social Studies
Social Studies in DC Public Schools cultivates learning experiences for students to be inquisitive, informed, and engaged participants in civic life by nurturing their lived experiences and identities and preparing them to recognize and disrupt systems of inequity. Social Studies is a core subject composed of civics, economics, geography, history and other social sciences taught in every grade from K-12 using methods that align to the best practices of each discipline. To learn more about DCPS Social Studies click here.
Science
At the beginning of school year 2014-2015, DCPS began implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which is a set of science standards based upon the National Research Council’s 2011 Framework for K-12 Science Education. The NGSS standards focus on science and engineering practices, emphasize critical thinking, designing solutions to real-world problems, and are conducive to project-based learning.
Emergent Bilingual Support
Over 80% of our students speak English as their second language. To that end, our team of 14 English Language Acquisition Teachers implement research-based strategies to enhance instruction and promote learning for Emergent Bilingual students. DCPS offers several programs for EL students.. To learn more about DCPS's support for English Language Learners click here.
Special Education
DC Public Schools aspires be a model district for special education. Our goal is to provide high quality inclusion and special education services, and to dramatically improve academic outcomes for students with disabilities. To learn more information about special education programs, click here.
Inner Core Subjects
Each week, students take part in Inner Core subjects; library/media, visual arts, general music, physical education, world language and drama.
Project-Based Learning
Project based learning is a teaching technique that allows students to gain deep content knowledge through in-depth units of study that are centered around an investigative problem or question. Students at Truesdell engage in sustained inquiry, seeking content knowledge and skills in order to solve problems. They then share their learning and solutions with the community.
Social-Emotional Learning & Support
Social-emotional learning, or SEL, is a description used to describe children’s ability to understand and be in control of their emotions. This includes actions like feeling empathy, having a sense of identity, building relationships with friends and family, and having flexible thinking. Students at Truesdell take part in SEL activities each day through intentionally planned morning meetings and through weekly grade level community circles. To learn more about SEL, click here.
Physical Education & Athletics
Students take part in physical education on a weekly basis. Additionally, our early childhood education program is measured by gross and fine-motor development domains; amongst many. Truesdell also has a robust soccer program, the largest in the district through our partnership with DC Scores.