PTAA’s approach to education is focused on college preparation for all students. Curriculum includes not just the textbooks and lesson plans we use, but also the culture we provide. Self-determination, responsibility, and life-long learning are values that are modeled and relayed to students through academic and behavioral expectations.
PTAA is currently in the application process for Expansion through District 49 to bring our Pathways in Technology Early College High School (PTECH) model to complete the PTAA K-12 program in Colorado. PTAA middle school and high school instruction is based on college prep curriculum. Our STEAM integration approach centers on Engineering and Information Technology courses along with more advanced STEAM courses. Our English Language Arts curriculum integrates reading, writing, presentation, and speaking skills development. Working with our community college partners, our students will be able to earn college credits for their advanced classes.
PTAA Course Catalog 24-25Over the course of the multi-level program, all literature genres are studied: poetry, novels, plays, biographies, nonfiction narratives, speeches, and film. Themed units integrate reading, literary analysis, writing, grammar, and vocabulary. Clear learning targets are communicated to students before every instruction period, fostering active learning and encouraging students to take charge of their own learning.
PTAA students learn to write in multiple forms including essays, personal narratives, argumentative texts such as editorials, research papers, and experience. Challenging and rigorous activities lead students into a deeper understanding of cultural and historical influences on literature and drama and require students to evaluate source integrity. Teaching methods stimulate classroom collaboration, discussion, and debate, and cause students to practice presenting, speaking, and listening, life-long and work-related skills.
Learn morePTAA students use STEMscopes™ curriculum to engage in and explore science concepts. STEMscopes™ is a comprehensive online curriculum program that provides numerous hands-on inquiry activities, including intervention and acceleration resources.
It is written for teachers by teachers and is maintained at the most current level. Twin reasons for the success of the program are inquiry-based, hands-on scientific exploration for students, and teacher training/development. While students interact with STEM phenomena they are developing the skills and knowledge for tomorrow's careers.
Learn morePTAA is a Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Academy which leads our curriculum for K-7th STEAM through PLTW Launch and Gateway programs with emphasis on technology, foundational coding, and pre-engineering skills.
Examples of course direction include:
PTAA instruction is Data Driven. The results from our formative assessments truly identify student knowledge gaps and areas of strength, so students are set on the right path, right out of the gate. Math concepts are taught with a concrete–pictorial–abstract learning progression through real-world, hands-on experiences requiring an extra step more than would be used in most American classrooms.
Students are taught how to use model drawing to solve those word problems, diagramming the elements of the problem.
Learn morePTAA Social Studies curriculum is provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), into Social Studies.
Learn morePTAA Colorado has a rich offering of Specials Classes including Mandarin, Spanish, Music/Theater Arts, Fine Arts, and Physical Education.
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