Lower School
Welcome to the Lower School!
An integrated approach to individual growth.
In the Lower School (grades 1-4), our focus is on the whole child. Each is treated as an individual and is a valued member of our close-knit community. Our faculty and administration get to know every student as both a person and a learner.
What's Happening in the Lower School?
First graders have completed their unit on maps! Throughout this unit, they explored various maps and their attributes, noting that maps have a title, a legend, a compass rose, and more. Students pointed out countries, states, and cities that they have visited and, as a class, they explored different locations on Google Earth. They are excited to...
Second graders dove into stop-motion animation and the world of creativity using whiteboards as their canvas. They explored the magic of transitions, learning how to move smoothly from one idea to the next. They also discovered the importance of frame rate, working with 12 frames per second to bring their stories to...
Fourth graders looked at different graffiti styles and artists that brought graffiti to the high art world. They identified places they have seen graffiti and discussed the difference between murals and unwelcome graffiti. Students practiced sketching their name or a word of their choice in any graffiti style they...
The fourth graders have been engaging in a fascinating study of nonfiction literature. They dive into texts and gain insight by utilizing key details and "signal words" to support their identification of various text structures—such as compare-contrast, chronological, cause-effect, problem-solution, and description—and the author's voice. The...
Bestselling author Dan Gutman visited Grades 2, 3, and 4 to talk about several of his books and life as an author! Mr. Gutman has written more than 190 books for readers from kindergarten through middle school and focused each presentation on one or two specific titles and series, including...
Fourth graders recently engaged in their first "STEM Challenge": working in pairs to build the tallest tower they could, using only 10 straws and limited masking tape. This hands-on activity encouraged critical thinking and problem-solving as students collaborated, tested...
Physical Education is upping the ante with fun challenges during the current unit, which combines dance and football. Students begin each class by warming up with a quick dance. They follow the warmup with partner work, slowly increasing the distance when throwing the football. The students are learning how to run different routes, like the slant and hook. The...
Student leaders and grown-up leaders joined together when council met with incoming Head of School Dr. Noam Wasserman. Sitting at a round table, the students discussed with him the council's goals and accomplishments, and shared...
Second grade kicked off the nonfiction reading unit by comparing fiction and nonfiction books, in the process discovering how nonfiction texts provide real-world information. The students went "book shopping," and were eager to select books on topics they were personally interested in learning more about. As they dove...