Lower School

The purpose of the Lower School is to provide students with a solid academic foundation in an environment that is both nurturing and challenging. Our goal is to prepare students for the academic expectations of Middle School through active involvement in critical thinking, problem solving, and decision-making activities. An emphasis is placed on the development of the whole child – spiritually, academically, socially, and emotionally. We strive to instill in our students a love of learning and a respect of themselves, others, and their own abilities.

Second grade student serves as "Head of School for a Day".

Language Arts

The goal of the Lower School Language Arts program is the development of strategic readers and writers and the cultivation of a life-long interest in reading and writing among our students. We provide students with meaningful and enjoyable activities that allow the development of thinking strategies necessary to recognize, recall, understand, apply, and evaluate many forms of printed information. Our Language Arts program integrates reading, writing, listening, and speaking. We assist students in developing research skills throughout all grades.

Mathematics

The aim of the Lower School Math program is to help students understand that mathematics is a useful subject and to help them apply the concepts they learn to aspects of their daily life. Our program, Everyday Mathematics, fosters in students the ability to value mathematics, become confident in their mathematical abilities, become problem solvers, and learn to communicate and reason mathematically. Students are expected to master and understand the concepts of whole number computation by the time they enter Middle School. Physical manipulatives are used to encourage students to explore and apply ideas.

Science

The basis of the Lower School Science program is the Full-Option Science System (FOSS) from the University of California. This program is a hands-on approach that incorporates topics in the life, earth, and physical sciences. Training in the scientific method begins in Kindergarten and is further developed in each subsequent grade level. By fourth grade, students are expected to use the scientific method to develop their own experiments. Our science program is supplemented at each grade level by a variety of curriculum extensions.

Social Studies

Our Social Studies program is based on the premise that the past, present, and future are all intertwined. Our goal is to guide our students toward a better understanding of themselves and the world through a study of the past and the present. Students are exposed to concepts of location, change, diversity, justice, power, and trade-offs as they learn about their community, their state, and their world, past and present. A sense of citizenship is nurtured through activities that enable students to make decisions as individuals and as members of a group.

Spanish

In the Lower School, students participate in a curriculum that instills an interest in the study of a foreign language. Students are introduced to the Spanish language through a variety of activities. They learn to appreciate cultural and linguistic differences as they become skilled at conversation, reading, and writing in Spanish. The study of the rich cultures and traditions of countries that have Spanish as their language teaches the students an appreciation of these differences.

Fine Arts

Students are exposed to the basic elements of art, such as line, form, color, texture, and composition utilizing a variety of art media. They study a variety of artists at each grade level and mimic their techniques. In music, students become familiar with the basic elements of music such as melody, rhythm, pitch, tempo, beat, and harmony and study music history. All students perform in musical programs during the year.

Physical Education

All students participate in physical education classes on a daily basis as an integral part of the entire child. Students learn health related fitness, skill acquisition, movement, and motor skills.

Religious Training

Lower School students develop their spiritual life through a community experience of participation in Chapel. Our youngest students act as crucifers and lead the student body in the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of each chapel service. Older students lead the student body as we present our prayer requests. Character education is also taught in Chapel. A Holy Eucharist service (holy communion) in the Episcopal tradition is held each month.

Service Learning

Service is an integral part of the Lower School curriculum. Each class selects an area of ministry and participates in a variety of activities that support that ministry.

Outdoor Education

Lower school students participate in a variety of local outdoor education experiences, including excursions to Jesse Jones Park. Students in fourth grade participate in an overnight program at Camp Allen which encompasses canoeing, building shelters, low ropes courses, team building experiences, and science projects in the outdoors.

Extracurricular Activities

A variety of after-school activities are offered to students in the Lower School. These change throughout the year, but examples include cooking classes, art classes, robotics, chess, and lacrosse. A cheerleading team and lacrosse team is available for students third grade and up.

Private School Interscholastic Association

Lower School students in Grades 1 – 4 are eligible to compete academically with other private schools through PSIA. Students in Grade 1 can compete in Creative Writing and Storytelling. Second graders can compete in Creative Writing, Storytelling, and Spelling. Third graders are eligible to compete in Spelling, Ready Writing, and Storytelling. Students in the fourth grade compete in Math, Number Sense, Spelling, Ready Writing, and Prose/Poetry Interpretation.