Pre-Kindergarten Academics
The formative years of pre-kindergarten are a time when students need to be nurtured, guided, and encouraged to explore the world around them. Emphasis is placed on learning through play, developing fine and gross motor skills, building early language and number sense, and fostering social and emotional growth. Hands-on activities, songs, stories, and centers are used to support academic readiness and curiosity. Art, physical education, music, STEM, and library visits provide important creative and developmental opportunities for young learners. Students gain enrichment from seasonal activities, classroom visitors, and age-appropriate field trips that bring learning to life.
Lower School Academics
In kindergarten through first grade, our early literacy program is grounded in the Science of Reading, a research-based approach that integrates phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. To support phonics instruction, we utilize the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Curriculum, which provides systematic and explicit lessons to build foundational reading skills. These formative years are focused on developing confident, capable readers through evidence-based practices. Instruction is carefully designed to meet students where they are while fostering language development, listening comprehension, and a love for reading. Foundational skills are integrated with engaging instruction in math, science, and social studies, creating a well-rounded educational experience in self-contained classrooms.
The basic program in the grades first through third centers around language arts with an emphasis on instruction in word recognition skills, phonics, oral and silent reading, spelling, and creative writing through Reading and Writing Workshops. Also included in the curriculum are the fundamental processes of mathematics, science, health and social studies. Pre-kindergarten through grade three are self-contained.