Valley Preparatory School Redlands California

Valley Preparatory School's physical education curriculum is holistic in its approach, focusing on the physical, social, emotional, and mental growth of its students.  While emphasis is placed on physical development, the other components are an integral part of the program.

With the holistic goal in mind, each class period is organized into five parts: flexibility exercises cardiovascular exercises, a verbal explanation and physical demonstration of the activity or sport, and student practice the activity or sport with encouragement and correction offered to increase success.  All classes are forty-five minutes with the exception of classes on Friday, which are forty minutes.  Every student participates in physical education class every day.

The program focuses of four major areas to develop, maintain, and increase the fitness levels of the students.  These four areas are: 1) strength and endurance of the skeletal muscles, 2) flexibility (stretching the muscles), 3) cardiovascular endurance (improving the heart and lungs, 4) and body composition (having a healthy ratio of fat weight to lean body mass).  Participation in sports is the catalyst for developing these fitness areas.

Each month a new sport is introduced.  The sports that are covered in detail are volleyball, flag football, basketball, hockey, soccer, gymnastics, softball, and badminton.  These sports were selected because of the probability that the students will encounter them in the future and because they require the use of the whole body as well as motor skills, manipulative skills, body awareness, balance, and coordination.  Through these sports, the social, emotional, and mental objectives of the program are achieved.  Cognitive skills of learning rules and playing games, social and emotional skills of working together as a team, and the concept of good sportsmanship are just a few examples of how these goals are met.

To reach the goals at all developmental levels, the curriculum is divided into pre-school through Kindergarten, first through fourth grade, and fifth through eighth grade.  In the first level, basic motor skills such as hopping, running, catching, and bouncing a ball are emphasized.  Sports are introduced, but are not the focus at this level.  Reinforcing what is learned in the classroom such as numbers, colors, shapes, and sharing is the key to the curriculum.

The second level uses sports to introduce all the required elements of the physical education curriculum.  Through the learning and playing of sports, students demonstrate a constant increase in learning and performance.

The third level focuses on the sports program as the vehicle for reaching the goals of the physical education program with a few additional requirements.  For example, tournaments are arranged, research reports are assigned, skill and written tests are given, and lessons on sportsmanship and sports edict are taught.

The interscholastic athletic program at Valley Preparatory School is available to give students the opportunity to participate with surrounding schools at a competitive level.  The program is under the supervision of the Pomona Valley League.  The program is open to all the fifth through eighth grade students.  We currently participate in girls' volleyball, boys' flag football, girls' and boys' basketball, as well as limited boys' and girls' track and field.  Goals of the interscholastic sports' program include: 1) obtaining a knowledge of the game, 2) improving individual skills, 3) learning how to work together as a team, 4) developing attitudes of good sportsmanship, 5) and positive social interaction with peers.