The focus of St. Helena Unified School District's curriculum is student mastery of basic skills in the core academic areas of English, mathematics, social studies and science. Before state lawmakers legislated state curriculum standards, St. Helena teachers defined skills to be learned in the core areas at each grade level. The next step was articulation between the grade levels to assure one year's skills built on those learned the previous year. This year each school has worked on the assessment of student progress to be sure classroom instruction is in line with district and state tests.
Teachers utilize state curriculum frameworks in planning units of study.
Language arts curriculum at the elementary school has been greatly enhanced by staff participation in extensive literacy training. A school wide math program is supported by on going grade level collaboration with program experts. Language arts at RLS Middle School has begun to focus on writing. Middle school math teachers have begun a review of newly published math texts aligned to state standards as part of the process of adopting a new text. High school core teachers utilize a variety of instructional tools with highly accessible technology provided through the digital high school grant.