Academics

 

Our goal as educators is to meet every child where they are academically, emotionally and developmentally and to move them forward.  The Lower School provides a nurturing, engaging and challenging environment as we seek to stretch our students and help them find their passions.  Through the many activities offered in academic and enrichment classes as well as extracurricular activities, our students are exposed to experiences designed to help them identify their personal strengths and passions. The dedicated teachers and staff at the Lower School, as well as the low teacher/student ratio, maintain a loving environment which provides each student with individual attention and builds strong ties of collaboration and support between home and school. 

Students in Pre-K through second grade are introduced to a curriculum that provides a solid foundation for becoming successful learners. Sight word instruction begins in Pre-K and continues through second grade as students move from emergent readers to independent readers.  The Guided Reading Curriculum allows teachers to constantly assess the strengths of their students and individualize instruction goals progress.  Phonics and reading skills are taught using Orton-Gillingham, Open Court Reading and Guided Reading.  The Accelerated Reading Program is utilized through all grades to encourage reading for pleasure while still assessing comprehension.  My Math curriculum builds basic math concepts while Simple Solutions provides daily review and practice.  English instruction includes grammar as well as writing skills.  Social Studies consists of thematic studies such as map skills and biographies of famous Americans.  Students begin using Handwriting Without Tears in Pre-K and continue with handwriting skills culminating with learning cursive in second grade. 

As students advance to grades third through fifth, they progress from learning to read, to reading to learn.  The curriculum expands to include Wordly Wise, Be A Better Reader, cross-curricular novel studies, social studies and science with a dedicated science teacher and labs.