Academics & Curriculum

Curriculum

As outlined in CVSD School Board Policy 105, curriculum is defined as a series of planned instruction aligned with established academic standards in each subject that is coordinated, articulated and implemented in a manner designed to result in the achievement of academic standards at the proficient level by all students. In Conestoga Valley, our curriculum teams use the Understanding by Design (UbD) process to create the courses (planned instruction) for each subject area.

In CVSD, curriculum is designed by teacher and administrator teams and is developed using the Pennsylvania standards in each instructional subject area. Beginning in 2023, CVSD has embarked on a curriculum redesign process to align all state standards with the Conestoga Valley Profile of a CV Learner. As each department enters into the curriculum redesign process, board-approved curriculum will be added to the Curriculum Blueprint.

Stakeholders can access the CV Curriculum Blueprint here.

Stakeholders interested in learning more about department curriculum that is not yet posted on the Curriculum Blueprint should contact Dr. Kelly Galbraith, Director of Curriculum & Instruction, for more information (kelly_galbraith@conestogavalley.org).

Academic Departments

Business Education

Conestoga Valley offers Business Education in both middle and high school. All middle school students are required to take 21st Century Skills and Technology. CVHS offers a wide range of business classes, with an emphasis on finance and accounting, marketing and entrepreneurship and technology/consumer skills.

English/Language Arts

Conestoga Valley School District believes literacy is a critical foundation for all learning and serves as a "keystone" for opportunity and success.

Conestoga Valley School District Literacy Mission: CVSD will provide direction to stakeholders regarding their responsibilities in developing an integrated, aligned and comprehensive set of literacy experiences that will educate all students to be competent, caring and contributing citizens in an ever-changing global community.

Conestoga Valley School District Literacy Vision: All CVSD students will become well-educated, life-long critical thinkers with a command of literacy and communication skills that prepare them for the challenges of the 21st century and enable them to achieve their personal and professional goals.

CVSD has aligned its curriculum with the Common Core state standards. Teachers in all discipline areas are structuring their lessons around Common Core standards and designing formative and summative assessments that gauge student mastery of the standards.

Teachers and administrators regularly receive extensive professional development to prepare them to facilitate student mastery of literacy standards. Recognizing the importance of differentiated instruction, CVSD teachers consistently collect evidence of student achievement to measure student growth and determine literacy needs, providing interventions when necessary. Special Education teachers work with regular education teachers to ensure that they meet all students at their instructional skill levels. By implementing a district-wide approach to standards-based instruction, CVSD shares the responsibility of teaching literacy to all students.

Family & Consumer Sciences

The Family & Consumer Science program improves the quality of life for individuals and families within the global community through education and hands on experiences. Focus areas include family interaction, financial and resource management, family, work and community responsibility, food science, and nutrition, and child development.

FAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCE COURSES

Culinary I (Basic Foods) & II (Baking)
American Cuisine
World Cuisine
Nutrition
Needle & Textile Arts
Child Development 1 & 2
Housing Issues
Child Care Skills
ARC First Aid/Responding to Emergencies

Health & Physical Education

Library

Library Media Services

Each school in the district has a quality library staffed with a certified school librarian. CVSD patrons have use of more than 80,000 print volumes that can be shared through Destiny, the online library catalog. All CV students have access to online resources, including grade-level appropriate specialty databases, ebooks and electronic tools. Online resources are available 24/7 for use at home. District libraries offer video collections and the capability to download streaming audio and video. The libraries at CV High School and Gerald G. Huesken Middle School offer extended hours for student use.

Policy and Procedures Manual

Mathematics

Music

The Music curriculum at Conestoga Valley is standards-based, with emphasis on:

Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
Reading and notating music.
Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
Evaluating music and music performances.
Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

Science

The Conestoga Valley Science Department provides the students of CV with a firm understanding of the science concepts outlined in the Pennsylvania State Standards for Science and Technology as well as those for Environment and Ecology. Inquiry, experimentation, and field work are key components enlivening the state standards as students work to create an understanding of the world around them.

Social Studies

The History Standards describe what students should know and be able to do at four grade levels (3, 6, 9, and 12). They reflect an understanding of chronological events and the application of historical thinking skills in viewing the human record. The intent of the history standards is to instill in each student an ability to comprehend chronology, develop historical comprehension, evaluate historical interpretation, and to understand historical research.

The Civics and Government Academic Standardsdescribe what students should know and be able to do at four grade levels (3, 6, 9, and 12) based on the Public School Code of 1949 which directs “… teaching and presentation of the principles and ideals of the American republican representative form of government as portrayed and experienced by the acts and policies of the framers of the Constitution of the United States and Bill of Rights….”

The Geography Standardsdescribe what students should know and be able to do at four grade levels (3, 6, 9, and 12). Geography is the science of space and place on Earth’s surface. Its subject matter is the physical and human phenomena that make up the world’s environments and places. These standards build on using geographic tools as a means for asking and answering geographic questions.

The Economics standards describe what students should know and be able to do at four grade levels (3, 6, 9, and 12). Economics is concerned with the behavior of individuals and institutions engaged in the production, exchange, and consumption of goods and services.

Technology Education

Technology is all around us and how our students are prepared to interact with such technology is a key aspect of education at Conestoga Valley. The mission statement from the Engineering by Design program is an excellent view into the department’s perception of technology education.

"We live in a technological world. Living in the twenty-first century requires much more from every individual than a basic ability to read, write, and perform simple mathematics. Technology affects every aspect of our lives, from enabling citizens to perform routine tasks to requiring that they be able to make responsible, informed decisions that affect individuals, our society, and the environment.

Citizens of today must have a basic understanding of how technology affects their world and how they exist both within and around technology. Technological literacy is fundamentally important to all students. Technological processes have become so complex that the community and schools collaborate to provide a quality technology program that prepares students for a changing technological world that is progressively more dependent on an informed, technologically literate citizenry."

Visual Arts

Students in all grade levels in all of our buildings are hard at work all school year on various art projects and we want to make sure their artwork gets the proper attention it deserves! Once the. new school year begins, each month, you will find a recap of what students have been working on in their various art classes. Just check out the menu to the left side of this page for month-by-month reports!

Philosophy Statement

Art education prepares all students for success as life-long learners by providing them with opportunities that challenge thinking, and encourage problem solving and the communication of ideas. The Art Department fosters individual expression and independent thinking. We are aware of our position to positively impact a generation of learners by expanding their awareness of the global community, and by developing their understanding of art and its role in society.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Art Department is to provide learning experiences that cultivate creative thinking, problem solving and individual expression in order to contribute to the formation of a generation of thinkers who understand the role of art in contemporary and historic cultures.

The art curriculum at Conestoga Valley is based upon the Nationals Core Arts Standards.

2025-26 Student Artwork

Monthly Art Department Reports

2025-2026

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