Academic Overview at Hazel Wolf

The K-8 Model

The K-8 model provides continuity, allows children to build long term relationships with teachers and staff, and gives us the unique ability to pair student buddies across a wide range of ages. These pairings help create a strong community and improve academic performance.

Academic Excellence

At Hazel Wolf K-8 we believe every student deserves a chance to excel. We use district adopted curriculum across all grades. Elementary students receive 120 minutes of literacy daily, and all K-5 grade utilize the Center for Collaborative Classroom (CCC) literacy program. The instructional materials for science is Amplify (K-8), and for math is Envision (K-8). 

Our Philosophy Around Math

• We believe that a student’s math potential is best built with a solid foundation of grade level work, which matches their developmental ability to access the material.
• Acceleration of students is strictly limited to those meeting all criteria.
• Our goal is to help students build a solid mathematical foundation.
• We will place an emphasis on eliminating the racial disparity in the participation in the accelerated program.

Environmental Science Focus

Hazel Wolf is an Environmental STEM School empowering creative and critical thinkers who nurture themselves, their community, and their environment. With our full-time  science specialist, we are developing a unique curriculum that teaches students to understand scientific concepts and methods and apply these skills to local and global environmental issues. Outdoor activities complement classroom learning and cultivate an appreciation of the natural world. Our curriculum integrates environmental science throughout math, social sciences, literacy and the arts. Our science curriculum offers students an exciting and unique view of science and its application to daily life. Close partnerships with families and community are fostered to support our learning objectives.

Art and Music

At Hazel Wolf K-8, we believe art and music are important components of a solid education. To that end, Hazel Wolf is building a rich arts and music program for its students. Elementary have a week long rotation of art, music, and PE. Middle school can elect to take Band, Orchestra, Drama, and Visual Arts each semester.

Physical Education

Physical education is important for helping teach kids about physical fitness and health. Hazel Wolf has two gymnasiums, a solid PE program and offers afterschool team sports for middle school students. The focus of our physical education program in both elementary and middle school is based upon the characteristics of a skill development model; which offers varied units as choices in some curriculum units. This model allows for the balance of many different activities throughout the school year, which range from lifetime sports, team sports, and non-traditional sports (see list below).

1. Lifetime Sports: indoor golf, tennis, bowling, archery, gymnastics, pickleball, or badminton
2. Team Sports: basketball, volleyball, softball, indoor floor hockey, or flag football
3. Non-Traditional Sports: Frisbee games, modified field games, martial arts, yoga, or cooperative games
4. After school Sports: Boys/Girls Basketball, Boys/Girls Soccer, Ultimate Frisbee (Co-ed), Boys/Girls Track, Girls Volleyball

Physical education in the Seattle Public Schools has been implementing new curriculum, which are the “Five Components of Fitness” to improve physical health: cardio respiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. Students will participate in fitness performance assessments:   ½ Mile Run, One-Mile Run, Push-Ups, Curl-Ups, and Sit-and-Reach. Students will be able to set goals based upon their pre-test measurements and improve upon them throughout the year. At the same time your child will participate in activities that improve motor skills involved with balance, coordination, agility, and quickness.  Our program will also stress the importance of safety, teamwork, and respect for others. We want every child in physical education to not only have fun but to acquire the knowledge and skills to maintain an active life through movement, physical fitness, and nutrition.