Programs

Day School Overview

HudsonWay Immersion School focuses on four pillars of student development: academic excellence, second language proficiency, cultural competence, and social-emotional development.

Academic Excellence

Students explore themed units of study which challenge them to problem solve and think critically. Frequent assessments and flexible grouping enable us to individualize instruction and thus maximize student learning. Using the Educational Records Bureau (ERB) standardized test given in English, our students outperform national norms for independent and gifted and talented public school students in nearly all subjects in all grades.

Second Language Proficiency

Our full immersion program, starting with 100% of the instruction in the 2s program and 90% of instruction in the 3s and 4s program in the target language, enables students to have a strong immersion foundation prior to kindergarten. This structure ensures that students are ready to learn academic content in both languages.

Our Kindergarten-1st Grade program provides 80% of the instruction taught in the target languages gradually increasing the English to 40% by 5th grade. By middle school, 45% of the time is spent in each target language and English. We also introduce a third language each day for 30 minutes beginning in grade 4.

Students grades 3 and up take the Avant assessment yearly which assesses listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.  This supports student understanding of his/her progress and is a criterion for achieving the Global Seal of Biliteracy.  Middle school students have the opportunity to sit for the College Board AP test which can also qualify them for the Global Seal and enable the student to earn college credit for language requirements.

Cultural Competence

Through an in-depth understanding of another language, our uniquely developed world curriculum, and daily exposure to our global staff, students see the world differently. We supplement this experience with cultural presentations such as our annual Chinese New Year performances, Spanish Carnavale Show, and global travel where our students partake in rich immersive experiences in Chinese or Spanish-speaking parts of the world.

Chinese New Year Performance 2020

Hispanic Heritage Month Celebrations

Social Emotional Learning

At HWIS, we believe that character development is as important as academics. The caring and positive approach used in classroom management and discipline is based on the premise that all interactions between adults and children must reflect a deep respect for the children as well as promote respect for themselves and others. We use the school-wide disciplinary system—Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports and support the development of executive function skills.