A beautiful campus full of HAPPY kids.
Academic Programs
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In our preschool program, we emphasize the joy of learning through hands-on experiences within a collaborative community. Our preschoolers explore, observe, question, and collaborate during child-led and teacher-guided learning opportunities and projects. Literacy and math concepts are woven throughout the day during exploration, project work, guided play experiences, and interaction with the environment. The arts provide a medium for self-expression and collaboration and are integrated within our project-based approach.
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Our kindergarten program uses a developmentally appropriate approach that encourages academic growth through small group work, targeted instruction, literacy and math centers, guided play experiences, and project-based work. Our program helps students develop connections between oral and written language and provides concrete experiences that lead to understanding mathematical concepts. The kindergarten day is balanced between academic instruction, integrated arts experiences, project work, and free play.
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Our elementary program builds on early creative experiences and secures academic foundations through explicit skill teaching, cooperative learning, and integrated arts experiences. There is a strong emphasis on creative and informative writing throughout the curriculum, daily arts blocks, project-based work with integrated science and social studies, and weekly physical education. Small class size promotes a sense of community and enables teachers to individualize instructional support. Projects such as Trout in the Classroom allow students to form cross-curricular connections and nurture a love and respect for the environment.
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Our middle school program provides a solid academic grounding in core subjects while forming strong connections with peers, mentors, and teachers. The arts provide a medium for self-expression and integration in core subject areas. Drawing on the traditions of the lower school, the hands-on lab science approach, targeted math instruction, and integrated humanities coursework provides a challenging academic experience for middle school students. Each stage of the middle school program encourages more self-reliance and greater independence in the classwork and fosters academic, social, and emotional development. Students in grades 6-8 continue to have core academic classes that are arts-integrated, including drama and physical education, but they are given the freedom to choose from electives such as theater arts, visual arts, music, Spanish, and American Sign Language each semester to deepen their skills and experience in these areas.
Small classes contribute greatly to the success of our programs.
In preschool, our teacher-to-student ratio is 1:10, with a teaching assistant typically assigned to each class. Elementary and Middle School teacher-student ratio is 1:16. Depending on the class size and individual student needs, teacher assistants are assigned to and/or math classes to ensure support language that each student’s potential and needs are met. Additionally, our students benefit from various teaching artists and specialists who work with each class to integrate instruction in art, music, drama, dance, physical education, and languages.
