Taking Risks, Mastering Skills.
Lower School
During their years in Lower School, our students build on the core academic skills they learned in Kindergarten and assume more responsibility and independence. From eating lunch in the cafeteria and exercising choice in extracurricular activities to becoming the “older buddy” by 4th grade, Lower School students strengthen their sense of self and deepen their participation in the Town community.
Lower School is a time of transition from learning skills in isolation to internalizing and using skills in service to learning. Students’ ability to recognize and regulate their emotions, build stamina, extend their attention and working memory, and deepen their executive functioning skills (organization, time management, prioritization) supports collaborative experiences that deepen learning.
Lower School teachers are proudly collaborative in their approach; sharing classrooms and ideas, and challenging each other on how best to support and deepen students’ understanding. Students leave Lower School as confident, independent thinkers who are ready to assume more leadership as they transition to Upper School.
David Andrew Wood
Head of Lower School
Division Overview and Parent Partnership
Classes throughout the day in Lower School offer many entry points in rich activities focusing on building deep conceptual understanding of content and internalizing skills that transfer across domains supporting lifelong learning. There are multiple specials classes in physical education and fine- and performing arts classes balancing the students’ experience each year. Ideas, skills, and behaviors are continually reinforced across the subjects so that students can apply their knowledge to new situations and challenges.
We are thoughtful about homework and testing expectations to ensure authentic connection to learning at each developmental stage. Reading at home is expected throughout the grades, and by the end of 4th grade, students have developed a strong understanding of expectations and requirements for both their schoolwork and homework. Standardized testing takes place in the spring of 4th grade so that students become comfortable with the test-taking experience in order to demonstrate their knowledge and ability.
Outside the classroom.
Our students access the vast resources of NYC to learn more about their world through field trips and guest speakers. Recent city partnerships and field trips have included Ailey II, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY Historical Society, the African Burial Ground, the MoMath Museum, the Museum of Illustrators, and Ellis Island. Students in 3rd and 4th grades enjoy overnight trips to a working farm in upstate New York where they gain more independence and decision-making responsibility and expand their social circle. These overnight experiences build upon field trips and city partnerships in the younger grades that focus on developing students’ awareness of our impact on and responsibility for each other and our surroundings.
Growing sense of self.
Lower School students have more choice outside their regular class days to explore their interests and affinities. Offerings include: Chorus, Dance Club, Talent Shows, optional race-based affinity groups, and curriculum-based sustainability and community action projects.
Parent-Teacher-Student partnership.
With literacy specialists, a math specialist, a learning specialist, and a school psychologist in addition to the homeroom teachers, students are observed and guided carefully and receive enrichment and support as needed. Teachers hold formal conferences with parents twice a year to discuss their child’s progress and send home narrative reports in December and June. Curriculum Program Updates are provided three times a year as well as subject-specific curriculum coffees. Students in the 3rd and 4th grades join the spring conferences so that they can take more responsibility for their learning and set their own goals with the guidance of their teachers.
Lower School Curriculum At-A-Glance
Language Arts
The primary objectives of the Reading program are to promote reading enjoyment and teach students how to respond creatively, critically, and thoughtfully to everything they read. The Writing program emphasizes the process of writing as well as the mechanics of sentence structure, punctuation, and grammar.
Math
The Math curriculum teaches students to use sound logic, think systematically and abstractly, and recognize mathematical patterns in real-life situations. Students deepen conceptual understanding by building number sense, noting patterns and relationships, internalizing core operations, creating and representing mathematical ideas, communicating and calculating accurately, and building toward efficient use of algorithms.
Social Studies
The Social Studies program centers around community life in different cultures and time periods. Students learn research techniques such as interviewing, observing, categorizing, and report writing. Field trips are important experiences for building observation skills and collecting information.
Science
The Science program leverages children’s natural curiosity to develop their inquiry skills. In a fully equipped Science lab, students learn how to create and test hypotheses, make careful observations and predictions, take measurements, keep records, and interpret the results.
World Languages
Spanish is taught in the 1st - 3rd grade homerooms to encourage daily use of the language. Students study families, foods, and neighborhoods and use songs, games, and artwork to learn about Spanish-speaking cultures. In 4th grade, students study French for half of the year and Spanish for the other half before choosing which language they would like to study in Upper School.
Technology
Smartboards, iPads, and Macbooks are used regularly in the classrooms to enhance learning, and a 1:1 student iPad program begins in 4th Grade. 3rd and 4th graders visit the Tech Center regularly to explore new applications, consider their digital footprint and safe researching techniques, and publish their writing compositions.
Arts
Students broaden their understanding of Dance through movement stories, choreography prompts/challenges, and by learning structured dances. Music literacy and composition lessons accompany more opportunities for singing and playing instruments. Global Arts creates a foundation for drawing, painting, printmaking, weaving, sculpture, ceramics, and digital art. Drama is formally introduced in the 4th Grade Performing Arts class.
Physical Education
PE emphasizes our core values of sportsmanship, teamwork, perseverance, resilience, and personal and social development. Students continue to develop general movement skills, learn elementary game and sports concepts, and grow their social awareness through group activities.