Salisbury Academy is part of a network of schools across the country — public, charter and private — that uses the Core Knowledge Sequence and is finding success as measured both by standardized tests and by the students' enjoyment of learning.

An informational session will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 6:30-7:30, in the school's art room. The session is open to the public. Please call 704-636-3002 for more information.

The Core Knowledge network also includes preschools that have a similarly sequenced program devoted to physical, linguistic, social and emotional development.

Core Knowledge is based on some of the ideas presented by E.D. Hirsch Jr. in his books, "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know" and "The Schools We Need and Why We Don't Have Them," and further developed by the foundation he established in 1986.

In each grade, students are exposed to a range of historical, scientific and cultural topics that will build on one another to prepare the students for later educational success. This array of subject matter will not only develop cultural literacy, but it will also establish the vocabulary necessary for true reading comprehension.

Core Knowledge tries to develop cultural literacy in a way that is systematic but leaves room for creativity for both teacher and student. This curriculum eliminates the gaps and repetition that characterize a curriculum in which textbooks and programs are selected more or less at random.