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Our Mission

Welcome! Here at Hooker Oak Elementary School, we strive to cultivate growth and joy through the implementation of thematic hands-on learning styles. Hooker Oak School promotes student participation in a variety of authentic and engaging activities which foster the development of the whole child. We create a tight-knit community of children who are excited to learn and parents who are excited about their children's education. Students will learn how to tap into their creativity and personal learning styles in order to encourage personal growth and academic excellence. We love all of our kids and hope that you'll be a part of the Hooker Oak family as well! 

Recognitions

- 2022 California PBIS Platinum Implementation Award 

- 2023 Friends of Chico State PETE Award

School Events & Activities 

  • Jog-a-thon

  • Winter Concert

  • Family Nights (i.e. movie night, paint night, etc)

  • Read-a-thon

  • Scholastic Book Fair

  • Global School Play Day

  • Student Art Showcase

  • Scoop & Serenade

  • Spring Carnival

  • Royal Dance Academy

  • Garden Elective (piloted during the 2022-23 school year) 

  • TONS of Field Trips 

  • ...and so much more!

Our Program

Hooker Oak School is a TK through 5th-grade school of choice in the Chico Unified School District. It is the second oldest school in Chico, built in 1948, and is rich in this beautiful community's history! The chances are fairly high that you've met someone who's attended our school!

 

Once known for being an Open Structured Classroom school, Hooker Oak is now a Hands-On, Thematic Learning Community. Our students experience curriculum through participation in a variety of authentic and engaging activities. We believe that learning best occurs through an integrated approach, where students see the connections between content areas and subjects. You will often see our students out in the community and find them involved in service-learning projects and/or project-based learning. Our main goal is to foster a love of learning in every student by bringing the curriculum to life and meeting their personal learning needs. 

 

Hooker Oak has a strong sense of community, with a great emphasis placed on the importance of positive relationships between the students, staff, family, and extended community. We take pride in our ability to cultivate a collaborative home-school partnership that is supportive of our student's academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs. 

 

We also provide looping classes between the 1st & 2nd grades as well as the 4th & 5th grades. In this program, the students will remain with the same class and teacher for two years. "Looping" is a research-based method that builds positive relationships and increases academic achievement. 

 

Below you can read more about your child's individual curriculum plan based on their grade.

Transitional Kindergarten (TK)

Thematic Units

  • Welcome to School

  • All About Me

  • Colors (Brown Bear)

  • Changing Seasons

  • Holiday Traditions

  • Winter Animals

  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar

  • Summer Fun

 
 

Special Experiences & Field Trips

  • Weekly Big Buddies

  • Holiday Music Performance 

  • Raising Butterflies

  • Special Keepsake Handprint Book 

Music

  • In TK, students begin to explore their singing voice and elements of steady beat through various music games and play. Students also get a chance to play instruments

Kindergarten

Thematic Units

  • Numbers ABC Bootcamp

  • Fall Harvest: Apples

  • Pumpkins

  • Bats & Owls

  • Turkeys

  • Gingerbread Fun

  • Wonderful Weather 

  • I Love You California

  • Friendship

  • Oviparous Animals/Chickens

  • ABC Countdown 

  Special Experiences & Field Trips

  • Weekly All-Kindergarten Sing-Along 

  • Weekly Read-Aloud with the Principal 

  • Pumpkin Patch Farm Visit

  • Gingerbread House Engineering 

  • Exploring California Symbols in Bidwell Park

  • Raising Chick from Eggs in the Classroom 

  Music

  • In Kindergarten, students learn to develop their listening, singing, and steady beat skills through musical games, stories, and dances. Students also get to play even more instruments 

First Grade 

Thematic Units

  • Animal Adaptations

  • Life Long Ago 

  • Economics 

Music

  • In 1st grade, students develop skills to independently identify high and low, fast and slow, and loud and soft. They learn to independently produce a steady beat and begin learning solfege and reading rhythms 

 
 

Special Experiences

  • Diorama, Animal Science Lab Rotations

  • Old-Fashioned School Games, Back-In-Time Day, Student-Created Artifact Museum, Timeline Project

  • Barter Faire, Class Currency, Town Day (student businesses!) 

Field Trips

  • Kirshner Foundation, Chico Creek Nature Center

  • Centerville Schoolhouse, Cal Skate Lessons, Bolts Tool Museum 

  • Local Businesses: Farms and Manufacturing 

Second Grade 

Thematic Units

  • Fairy Tales

  • World Traditions/My Traditions

  • Landforms  

Music

  • In 2nd grade, students refine their fundamental music skills and engage in more complex musical games and activities. They learn to identify different types of instruments from various instrument families and begin learning to compose and read music 

Special Experiences

  • Reader's Theater, Write Our Own Fairytales

  • Family Traditions Project, Holidays Around the World

  • Erosion Experiment, Google Slide Landform Reports  

Field Trips

  • Laxon Performances

  • Ice Skating, CSU Museum of Anthropology

  • Upper Park, Landforms Exploration

Third Grade 

Thematic Units

  • Classroom Community and Team Building

  • Growth Mindset

  • Force/Motion/Magnets

  • American Symbols/Branches of Government 

  • Climate and Extreme Weather

  • Local Geography 

  • Local Native Americans: Maidu

  • Early Settlers of Butte County 

  • Life Cycles

  • Animal Adaptations

  • National Parks 

Music

  • In 3rd grade, students continue to develop their singing voice while learning to apply solfege and musical notation to their activities. They dive deeper into instrument families and music theory 

 
 

Special Experiences

  • Kindness Rocks

  • Flipbooks

  • How a Bill Becomes a Law Simulations

  • Group Research Project in Climates & Extreme Weather

  • STEM activities

  • Butte County Map Art

  • Maidu Folk Tales & Home Art Project

  • Expert Group Project on the Bidwells/Bidwell Mansion Art

  • Observing Butterfly Life Cycle/Butterfly Life Cycle Art

  • Animal Adaptation Poster

  • National Parks Research Project 

Field Trips

  • Bowling to Test Force/Motion

  •  Chico History Museum

  • Bidwell Mansion Tour

  • ... with Possible Visits to 5+ other locations!

Fourth Grade 

Thematic Units

  • Lifeskills Unit/Community (Dog Unit)

  • CA Regions, Adventure California 

  • Native Americans in the Regions

  • Early CA Explorers

  • Westward Expansion

  • Gold Rush

  • CA State History  

Music

  • In 4th grade, students begin learning to play the recorder. They continue to develop their music reading skills and learn to play with a group. These students also learn songs, dances, and games from various cultures and countries

Special Experiences & Field Trips

  • Guide Dogs for the Blind

  • CSUC Anthropology Museum 

  • Grey Lodge Hike

  • Laxon Shows (as available)

  • CSUC Math Lab

  • CSUC Science Lab

  • Sacramento Trilogy Trip (Capitol Building Tour, IMAX Movie, California Museum) 

  • Malakoff Diggins (when available)

  • Butte Creek Ecological Reserve

  • Lassen Hike 

 
 

Fifth Grade 

Thematic Units

  • Lifeskills/Community Building:

  • Mount Everest, Bees, Teacher's Choice 

  • US Regions

  • Native Americans 

  • Mars/Planets 

  • Early Explorers 

  • Jamestown & Settlements 

  • Colonial America

  • American Revolution 

  • Becoming the US Government  

 

Special Experiences & Field Trips

  • Chabot Space and Science Center

  • CSUC Anthropology Museum

  • Chico Regional Theater Shows

  • Grey Lodge Hike

  • Laxon Shows (as available)

  • CSUC Math Lab

  • CSUC Science Lab

  • Butte Creek Ecological Reserve

  • Lassen Hike

  • Ship Trip in Marin County 

  • Mock Trial & Courthouse Visit 

Music

  • In 5th grade, students begin learning to play the guitar. They use their music theory knowledge to further develop their ear, music reading skills, and instrument technique. Students also learn about various musical careers, dances, and folk songs. 5th-grade students also get the opportunity to join band! Band is an optional after-school program where students can learn instruments such as the flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, or trombone! 

Are you a student, parent, or community member? Keep in touch with us: