Elementary Math Instruction

Each day in Newport News Public Schools the focus is on one mission: ensuring that all students graduate college, career and citizen-ready. NNPS students embody the NNPS Profile of a Learner and the Virginia Profile of a Graduate. Elementary students learn to be Leaders, Emotionally Intelligent, Academically Prepared, Resilient, iNnovators, Equity Minded, and Reflective.

Our Elementary Math program is designed to support students in fulfilling the Profile of a Learner and to ensure that all students become strong mathematical thinkers who are competitive at a global level. We utilize the Virginia Standards of Learning for Mathematics (SOLs) as our guidepost for designing high quality math instruction.

The state of Virginia follows a set of common academic standards (SOLs) in mathematics. These standards create clear expectations for what all students should know and be able to do in key areas of mathematics. They are designed around coherent progressions from grade to grade. Teachers carefully connect the learning across grades so that students can build new understanding onto foundations built in previous years. Teachers can begin to count on deep conceptual understanding of core content and build on it. Each standard is not a new event, but an extension of previous learning.

The Virginia standards also call for rigor in conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and application. In order to build mathematical proficiency, students need to understand the math concepts (versus just how to get an answer), perform the procedures with fluency (speed and accuracy), and apply math to real-world situations.

Throughout the year, we will continue to adjust and refine our mathematics curriculum in order to best meet the needs of ALL of our students. We will provide all students with experiences in the classroom that will help them truly understand the mathematics they are doing as well as enjoy math. Thank you in advance for your support!