Orca K-8 Programs

We love the Orca library! Our goal is to connect students with books and help them develop their love of reading. We also teach students to use the library as a resource so that they will be effective users of ideas and information. All students grades K-5 come to the library once a week for 30 minutes. Middle school students visit the library on a flexible schedule. Teachers bring them to check out books, do research or just to have a quiet place to work. My hope is that all students, staff, families, and community members find themselves represented in our collection of books. Everyone belongs in the Orca library!

Our 4th and 5th graders participate in the Global Reading Challenge. This is a program that the Seattle Public School Librarians do in partnership with the Seattle Public Library. Students read books, learn how to access resources from the public library and participate in a district wide competition. Go Orca!

Our middle school students also have the opportunity to participate in a reading competition. Orca participates in a Battle of the Books where the librarians choose the books and create the questions. Our students appreciate the opportunity to read some books that they wouldn't normally read and compete against other K-8 middle schools.

The STEM program at the Orca Middle School is based on Project Lead the Way (PLTW) curriculum and includes a Computer Science and a Robotics elective available to all students. In Computer Science, scholars use Engineering Design principles to solve real-world problems - for example, designing orthotics for students in our Medically Fragile program at Orca. Students also learn to use Computer Assisted Design (CAD) software to create designs that they can bring to life using our 3d printer.

In Robotics, students learn to build, test, and program robots using VEX V5 robotics equipment. One of our favorite projects is "Dance Bots" where students build and program robots to dance to a song of their choosing. Our elementary students act as judges and decide which dancing robot is their favorite. We also have 6 full-size pinball machines in our Middle School to teach electronics - and they are fun to play. In addition, we received a $3000 grant for soldering equipment for this school year so students will be learning to fix the electronics in the pinball machines when they break.

Orca K-8 Physical Education is a place for joy and movement. Skills build developmentally from early childhood through middle school; based on the Shape National Standards as well as the Seattle Public Schools Grade Level Power Standards. Students learn skills so they can enjoy a lifetime of activity, sport, movement, and fitness. Students develop the Five Components of Fitness: cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility and body composition as well as the Skills of Fitness: balance, coordination, reaction time, power, speed and agility. Students also develop social emotional regulation and teamwork skills.

Ms. Grow, the Physical Education Teacher, works to create a safe and welcoming community by learning about students’ interests, cultures, and experiences. She brings relevant curriculum that meets each student where they are at and by using Universal Design for Learning. Each day in Physical Education students explore various activities and develop their physically literacy. Some of the favorite units of exploration are tag games, frisbee, flag football, basketball, dance, soccer, floorball, and tennis. Students are encouraged to follow their interests beyond the classroom. Orca has a wonderful middle school athletic program which values student participation as well as PTSA run afterschool classes for K-5 that include: Jump club and Parkour after school. We also have an upper elementary ultimate frisbee team.

Orca PE would not be possible without the various community partners who bring a world of activity into our classroom by providing resources, curriculum, and training. Huge thanks to the Orca PTSA, NFL Flag in Schools, Net Generation, the Seattle Kraken, the Seattle Storm, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Education Foundation, Outdoors for All, George Pocock Rowing, Cascade Bicycles and Lori Dunn Seattle Schools Physical Education Manager & Tony Bader Adaptive Physical Education lead for all the ongoing support and training that keeps our program vibrant and growing.

Rachelle Lyons, our full-time social worker is the founder of Next Gen Black Girl Magic.

She supports school age girls ages ranging from 12-18 years. The purpose and/or key goals of Next Gen BGM is to empower, inspire, and support young Black girls by cultivating leadership, confidence, and a strong sense of identity, belonging, mentorship, volunteering, and college career guidance. Next Gen Black Girl Magic seeks to foster deep and genuine relationships, providing life skills, open discussion surrounding relevant topics that pertain to our culture, our history, and social justice that advocate systemic changes. They showcase communication skills that support their personal growth, throughout a lifespan.

Orca has two LEGO Robotics teams competing in the First LEGO League. The teams are coached by Mr. Evan and Ms. P and meet twice weekly to learn about STEM and engineering, to build robots out of LEGOs, to code robots to accomplish challenges, and to research a problem in the wider world related to robotics. This season we learned about archaeology, and how robotics is applied in that field. We had a former UW professor and director of the UW Burke Museum visit our club to teach about archaeology and answer questions about her career. One aspect of our LEGO teams that we are particularly proud of is how students learn to collaborate and share ideas, resources, and tasks to complete a huge project. Students work from September until the competition in December, and even though we have two teams of students, our teams share ideas freely, which helps us to learn more and succeed together!

On December 6 Both of our LEGO Robotics teams won awards at the Seattle Public Schools FLL competition at Robert Eagle Staff MS, with one team winning a Finalist Award for Core Values, and the other team winning Rising All Stars award. One of our teams also scored high enough to advance to the Semi Finals in FLL, which will be held sometime in January. LEGO Robotics is an awesome example of collaboration between grades at Orca (students in grades 4-8 are eligible to join), and a chance for students to learn about STEM in a fun and engaging way!