Lower School

GRADES K – 5

Our Lower School is proud to be an authorized International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, offering the Primary Years Programme (PYP) for Kindergarten through Fifth Grades. Through the process of inquiry, and within its transdisciplinary framework, the PYP challenges students to engage in critical and creative thinking to explore concepts and questions with local, national, international, and global importance. Through exploration in six units of inquiry each year, and across six subjects, students begin to develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for playing an active role in their own learning and in their own communities. 

We have one class per grade with up to 24 students and two teachers in each class.  We complement the self-contained classes with co-curriculars including Art, Music, Spanish, Mandarin, PE, and Garden.

Science and social studies

Both science and social studies are integrated into the Units of Inquiry through the IB Programme. This transdisciplinary model provides children with the context necessary to delve deeply into science and social studies concepts.  In Middle School, both subjects are taught explicitly, and our students demonstrate strong conceptual understanding and skills in science and social studies.

Mathematics

We use the Bridges math program to ensure learning seamlessly flows from one grade to the next. The Bridges math program is designed as an inquiry-based program that enables students to construct a deep understanding of mathematical concepts. In a workshop format, teachers guide individual students or small groups through asking questions and differentiating discussions to meet students where they are in their mathematical understandings.

Language Arts

Our Language Arts program develops reading, writing, speaking and listening skills through workshops, projects, and instruction.  Our teachers inculcate a love of reading and writing by supporting each child’s natural developmental pathway. In our primary grades, we provide additional systematic phonics instruction through the Orton-Gillingham program.  As children progress, they develop their ability to analyze both fiction and nonfiction and communicate their thinking in more complex written expression. Students have a variety of opportunities to hone their public speaking, and they participate in many activities to develop their listening and collaborative skills.