Kids are natural learners who want to create and discover.
We tap into that and nurture it.
Young children are naturally curious, capable, and eager to make sense of the world. Our classrooms are places where questions are encouraged, ideas are tested, and learning feels purposeful and alive.
Students are known deeply here. With small class sizes and fully engaged teachers, each child’s interests, strengths, and growing edges are seen and supported. We balance structure with freedom, encouraging independence while providing the security children need to take intellectual and creative risks.
This is a place where learning is both rigorous and full of heart; where children discover not only how to read, write, calculate, and investigate, but also who they are becoming as learners and as people.
|
|
![]() |
Understanding Ourselves and Others
Social Studies invites children to explore the world through inquiry, investigation, and conversation. Students examine both primary and secondary sources, learning how to ask questions, analyze perspectives, and draw thoughtful conclusions.
An emphasis on perspective and empathy is woven throughout the curriculum, helping children develop cultural awareness and a sense of responsibility to one another. Learning is often project- and place-based, connecting big ideas to students’ own communities and experiences.
Through this work, children begin to understand their role in a larger story—past, present, and future—and their capacity to contribute meaningfully to the world around them.
Developing readers, writers, and thinkers.Our English Language Arts program is knowledge-rich and intentionally designed to nurture strong readers, thoughtful writers, and critical thinkers. Students engage with diverse, relevant, and rigorous texts that reflect both their lives and the wider world. Writing is emphasized across content areas, with a focus on clarity, voice, structure, and purpose. Children learn that writing is a powerful tool for thinking, communicating, and creating. In grades JK–2, students receive structured, explicit phonics instruction grounded in the science of reading, ensuring a strong foundation for lifelong literacy. Across all grades, learning support and enrichment provide responsive pathways for readers and writers at every stage of development. |
|
Learning with heart, body, voice, and imagination.
The lower school experience is enriched by a robust and joyful specials program that honors children’s creative and physical expression. Music, art, library, and world languages help children build confidence, discover interests, and see themselves as capable creators, and Integrated Global Performance and Creative Technology invite students to collaborate, experiment, and express themselves in new ways.
Movement, play, and creativity are essential elements of how children learn, grow, and come to understand themselves and one another. In addition to physical education, all students will learn to swim as part of our partnership with the Meri Lou Murray Recreation Center.
| Lower School Specials |
|---|
|
|
|
![]() |
Thoughtfully Designed for Children and FamiliesEverything about our daily schedule, from what students learn to when and how much, is designed with intention and purpose. Decades of hands-on experience combine with the research on what’s best for young learners to carefully balance academic focus with movement, play, and rest. For families with children across divisions, cross-campus shuttle service provides added ease. Every detail of the program reflects our commitment to supporting children—and the adults who care for them—through a well-designed school day. |
HighlightsLunch Provided Daily Enriched Before- and After-School Care One Drop Off for All Grades, JK–12 |
An intentionally aligned, JK through 12th grade experience.
The lower school is the first stop on a lifetime of learning, and everything students experience is carefully considered to help them make the most of this moment while preparing them for what’s next. The curriculum and expectations are vertically aligned with the middle and upper school, ensuring that students build the skills, habits, and confidence they’ll need over time, without rushing childhood.
Children grow as thinkers and collaborators, learning how to ask meaningful questions, engage in dialogue, persist through challenge, and reflect on their learning. Just as important, they develop a strong sense of self and belonging within a community that acts with empathy and values integrity and connection.
Our youngest students also benefit from caring relationships with adolescent role models. Middle and upper school students regularly engage with the lower school, offering mentorship, inspiration, and a glimpse of what lies ahead.















