Elementary Academics
 Elementary Principal - Suzanne Hume
Hillcrest Christian is taught by specialized teachers who provide enrichment programs that open up new opportunities to our students, in order to allow them to discover their special, God-given talents.
“They have the best most caring teachers! We feel like family here! The Bible based curriculum is excellent! We hope our son can attend here all the way through high school!” 
Academic Resources & Information
Elementary ProgramStandardized Testing Scores
Below are our K-6th grade scores listed as Grade Equivalents and National Percentile Rankings. Grade Equivalents means the average score the examiners would expect from a student at that particular grade level. For example, an “average” third-grade student taking the exam in April, which is the 9th month of the school year, should score a 3.9. For example, our third graders received a score of 5.0, which means they tested at a fifth-grade level. A National Percentile Ranking of 77 indicates our third graders scored higher than 76 out of 100 classes taking the Iowa test. We are pleased to report that our students and teachers are well above average. 
Kindergarten
Teacher(s): Sylvia Law, Jeana Fletcher, and Summer Israelson
Kindergarten is a very important and exciting time in your child’s formal education. HCS offers a creative approach to an exceptional Kindergarten program. Our program instills the love of learning and rigorous academics and our students have proven to be above national norms. While our emphasis at HCS will always be on spiritual development and academic excellence, our Kindergarten teachers also work tirelessly on developing your child’s social and emotional intelligence with a focus on conflict resolution and independence. Some of the activities throughout the year include: Grandparents’ Day, Christmas Program, Dr. Seuss Day, 100 Days of School Celebration, International Day, and Graduation Ceremony. Weekly Chapels: Lead worship throughout the year and be placed in a Family Group consisting of students K-12. Field trips include: Pumpkin Patch, Fire Station, Police Visits, and Plays.
First Grade
Teacher(s): Alicia Adams, Nellum Lewis, & Angela Booth
First grade is filled with many milestones and Hillcrest Christian School is the perfect place to be sure your child meets and surpasses them all. We are a school known for its high academic standards and our first grade program is designed to develop strong readers and writers. As your child is developing their reading skills, we introduce the Writer’s Workshop, which allows your child to express themselves through the written word and publish their very own book! At the same time, we are committed to laying a firm foundation in mathematics and science through daily hands on learning activities and assessments. Most importantly, first grade is presented through a Christian worldview so that your child may begin to develop an understanding of the God of the Bible and learn that His desire is to have a meaningful, loving relationship with them through Jesus Christ. As we study the Bible, we will be learning about God’s character and what it means to walk with Him and live in fellowship with Him through the Holy Spirit. Activities throughout the year include: a visit from the K-9 Police, a wedding for the letters Q & U, special guests reading their favorite stories, Grandparents day, Dr. Seuss Week, class parties celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s, 100th day of School, St. Patrick’s Day & Easter; weekly chapels, Bible buddies with 4th grade and family groups with all ages Field trips include: the pumpkin patch, the Santa Barbara Zoo, the planetarium, whale watching and visiting a vet hospital Weekly Chapels: Lead worship throughout the year and be placed in a Family Group consisting of students K-12.
Second Grade
Teacher(s): Carrie Hebert & Olivia Serrano
The second Grade is an exciting time in your child’s learning experience. The learning environment becomes more rigorous than they initially encountered in first grade, and students are ready to take on the challenge of expanding their skills and knowledge. Children at this age continue to develop their literacy skills and are able to read more complex stories. Second-graders practice expressing themselves in writing with greater proficiency. They will learn more about the concepts behind certain math skills and work towards mastering their addition and subtraction facts. The second graders will use technology to collaborate on shared and individual research projects that incorporate concepts covered in Social Studies and Science. Students learn how to use digital tools with the aid of the teacher to publish writing and create presentations. Most importantly, children begin to develop a greater understanding of the God of the Bible, and learn that His desire is to have a meaningful, loving relationship with them through Jesus Christ. As they study the Bible, they learn what it means to walk with God and live in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Field Trips: Leo Carrillo Tidepools, Thousand Oaks Public Library, and Children's Hunger Fund Activities throughout the year include: The Flat Stanley Project, Chapel presentation for Operation Christmas Child, participate in Speech Meet and Spelling Bee, class Poetry Jam, Grandparents’ Day, International Day, Special Rallies. Parties celebrating Johnny Appleseed Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, 100th day, Easter, Valentine’s, and the end of the year. Weekly Chapels: Lead worship throughout the year and be placed in a Family Group consisting of students K-12.
Third Grade
Teacher(s): Mary Wilson & Jami Casas
Third grade is often considered a pivotal year in your child’s educational journey. Instruction in phonics is phased out and increased emphasis is placed on vocabulary acquisition, comprehension strategies, text analysis, language conventions, and writing. Hillcrest third grade students will learn to use context as an independent vocabulary strategy. They are learning to refer to information in the text when asking and answering questions about texts they have read. They will also apply analysis strategies to determine the theme or central message of text. In mathematics, your child will deepen their understanding of place value and their knowledge of & skill with addition, subtraction, and multiplication of whole numbers. Your child will also develop an understanding of fractions as numbers, concepts of area and perimeter of plane figures, and attributes of various shapes. In Social Studies we will cover the geography of our local region, American Indians in our region, how communities have changed over time, as well as American citizens, symbols and government. For Science, this year is filled with the exploration of energy, matter and light. As well as investigation and experimentation relating adaptation to the survival and fitness of the organism. Your student will become familiar with the patterns and movements of the Sun, Moon, and stars—both as those bodies actually move and as they appear to move when viewed from Earth. Most importantly, third grade will also be the year for students to develop a strong Biblical worldview. We will begin to explore what God and the Bible have to say about every aspect of our lives in a personal and meaningful way. We will do this by focusing on servanthood and what it means to be a servant in all aspects of our life. Weekly Chapels: Lead worship throughout the year and be placed in a Family Group consisting of students K-12.
Fourth Grade
Teacher(s): Chrissy Peloquin & Sophia Lemos
The fourth grade is an exciting year as students officially move into “upper elementary.” During this year students learn how to become organized and independent workers. They get the opportunity to be entrusted with more freedom and responsibility as they learn independent study skills and how to record their own work in daily planners. In fourth grade we will focus on mastering the skills from previous years followed by beginning more complex academic content like basic algebra, 5 paragraph writing, fractions, and in-depth literature analysis. Another major focus in fourth grade is learning California history which will culminate in a trip to the Santa Barbara Missions. Lastly, and most importantly, fourth grade is a great year for students to begin developing a strong Biblical worldview. At this age we can begin to explore what God and the Bible have to say about every aspect of our lives in a deeper way and will do a focused study on servanthood and what it means to be a servant in every area of our life. Weekly Chapels: Lead worship throughout the year and be placed in a Family Group consisting of students K-12.
Fifth Grade
Teacher(s): Deeann De La Rosa & Jaden Thompson
Fifth grade is a transitional year for our students as they learn to apply executive function skills to their learning experience. During this year, students learn how to apply information learned to their lives using higher level thinking processes. Our fifth grade program is designed to allow students to apply the Biblical principles they have learned to their lives on a daily basis across all subject matter. During the fifth grade year we will focus on how to learn and apply information learned. Students strive for academic excellence in all subjects in addition to expanding their spiritual development. Project-based learning is an integral part of the 5th grade curriculum. Fifth grade field trips include an “in school” Walk Through the American Revolution experience, visit to the Reagan Library, and exploration visit to Santa Cruz Island. Students culminate the year with an overnight field trip to Riley’s Farm for an American Revolutionary War experience. These trips integrate the Social Studies and Science curriculum covered throughout the year. These opportunities are a wonderful transition as the fifth grade prepares students for more independence in their academics and spiritual growth. Weekly Chapels: Lead worship throughout the year and be placed in a Family Group consisting of students K-12.
Sixth Grade
Teacher(s): Kelly Johnson & Heather Burch
Sixth grade is an important time of change and transition in the life of a child. During this time children begin the slow process of understanding what it means to be an adult. Our sixth grade program is designed to help our students understand the growth process and look to God for His plan and purpose in their lives. It is during this year that many students transition from the faith of their parents to making Christianity their own. During the sixth grade year we will focus on academic excellence in all subjects as well as age appropriate spiritual development. Our students will attend a one-week science and spiritual-focused camp at Hume Lake Christian Camps in the Sequoia National Forest. For many of our students this trip is the highlight of elementary school. We also get the incredible opportunity of giving back to our school community by participating in service projects throughout the year to help encourage a servant's heart in our students. Weekly Chapels: Lead worship throughout the year and be placed in a Family Group consisting of students K-12.
Elementary ElectivesStudents take all these courses each year kindergarten through sixth grade with specialized teachers.
Physical Education
Teacher: Christian Fuentes
Physical fitness is such an important part of a child’s physical and mental development. In the physical education classes at Hillcrest Christian, students will learn about the sports they are playing while improving their physical fitness every day, ultimately seeing the improvement they have made over the course of the year through the President’s Physical Fitness Challenge. The goal is not to find the best athlete, but instead for each individual student to learn how to take care of themselves physically, develop skills, and improve their fitness throughout the course of the year. This course promises to be fun and informative for each student! Computer
Teacher: Amy Obringer
Students will be learning about the proper way to keep a computer clean and safe while they use the devices. As safety for both the student and devices are paramount, they will learn about the various types of software viruses, malware and other scams that are flooding the internet. They will also learn how to keep themselves safe from internet predators and what to do if they find themselves in an unsafe situation. Keyboarding or typing is a skill set that all need to know and master. Students will be using a keyboarding program during each class to help them gain accuracy and speed. To help ensure the students' success in and out of school, they will develop their application skills by using MS Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), Google (Docs, Sheets, and Slides) and Apple (Pages and Keynote). Knowing how computers work, the internal components, its history as well as the evolution of the computer system will round out their skills and core knowledge in computer science. Spanish
Teacher: Mila Pineda
Getting kids started with a second language at a young age is critical in the formation of deep rooted language skills that will carry on throughout their lives! Learning about different cultures and languages enables our students to appreciate and better understand the world around them. Spanish is a fun, dynamic, and interactive class that uses games, songs, videos, and other fun activities, to keep students engaged while they are learning a new language. Some exciting highlights that our elementary Spanish students enjoy are: The Spanish Spelling Bee and Fiesta Latina, International Pen Pals, Breakfast with the sixth graders, “Are you Smarter Than a 4th Grader?”, Fruit Salad with the Second graders, Rockalingua- Music based Spanish program, and lots of fun games in class!!!! Music
Teacher: Tracy Krasczyk
Kindergarten, first, and second grades have music class once a week for 30 minutes. 3rd-5th grades have music class once a week for 45 minutes. Additionally, K-5th grades will also have worship practice and rehearsals scheduled throughout the year. Each grade will be leading worship at our weekly chapels on a scheduled rotation. In music class students will be learning and expanding their music theory, vocal training, rhythm instruments, and dancing. Once a month we will be having a music appreciation lesson. Music appreciation for grades K-2 will be a cultural lesson from around the world. We will look at and discuss types of instruments, clothing, music, and dancing from different places around the world. Grades 3-5 will be studying different classical composers and also about music throughout time. Second semester music classes will be dedicated to learning to play an instrument, below are the instruments we will play. Kindergarten and 1st grade will be playing the piano. 2nd and 3rd grade will be playing the ukulele. 4th grade will be learning beginning guitar. 5th grade will be playing the guitar for semester one and then in semester two will be learning about song composition and writing a worship song to then be recorded. After recording their song they will be making a music video. 6th grade will have music for one quarter. They will be learning music theory and start guitar lessons. They will also be the cast of actors in the Christmas nativity play. |
FEATURING
- Above National Norms
- High Academic Standards - Very Safe & Secure - Buddy Program / Cross Tutoring - Academic Competitions - Fun & Educational Field Trips - Christian Character Development - Weekly Chapels and Guest Speakers - Sensitive to student's needs and their abilities - Well qualified teachers who are dedicated Christians - Community Service: Opportunities provided for students to think globally and serve those in need - Student Government / Leadership ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS
- Art - Computer - Spanish - Library - Speech Meet - Robotics - Chromebooks - Music - Orchestra - Competitive Sports - Physical Education Specialist - Citizenship Programs - Science Fair - Spelling Bee - Accelerated Enrichment Programs (available upon student interest) |
