Grades 1 - 8

Children move into the second phase of childhood at the age of six or seven. This change is marked by a new readiness for formal learning. New intellectual abilities are nurtured, continuing to empower the imagination and creativity in the early grades.

Starting with first grade, the class teacher usually stays with the class for the next eight years. The teacher and students come to know and understand each other in a deep and meaningful way. These long-term, close relationships enhance learning, confidence, and social and emotional skills, while fulfilling each child’s individual needs to reach their utmost potential.

Each grade takes a developmental approach to education, and curricula is designed to meet students at the specific stage they are in at each age. Intellectual knowledge is passed through aesthetic experience. English, mathematics, science and social studies, woodwork and knitting, world languages (both German and Spanish), and music are taught integrating intellect, imagination, and art. The teachers address each child’s learning with pictures and stories, in color, rhythm, and music. Lesson plans are designed with intent so that each learning experience becomes a living part of the child.

While we engage our students rigorously, it is done within a warm and respectful community, which provides a safe place for the transformative experience of beginning adolescence. Our students develop abilities to think creatively, feel empathically, and work actively, instilling the confidence needed to move into adulthood as a positive force in our ever-evolving world.

See our Tuition Information.