Young children come to school with a keen desire to be effective and competent, to make sense of their world, and to find their place within a network of caring relationships. They learn best when they see a purpose in what they are doing and when they have appropriate opportunities for choice and input. The Lower School provides a warm, friendly, and stimulating environment where children from kindergarten through fourth grades can learn and grow.

The curriculum reflects our understanding that children are active learners who develop, test, and refine concepts by interacting with a wide variety of materials and with other children. Through careful observation and assessment, teachers determine the level of complexity and challenge appropriate for each individual and design tasks that can be done well but not too easily. With this guidance children can learn to tolerate mistakes and to value the effort needed to reach the next level of mastery. To give teachers scope to accommodate a range of abilities, skill levels and interests, we keep class size small (sixteen in kindergarten, eighteen in first through fourth grades) and use half-day assistant teachers in kindergarten, first and second grades.

While we feature a hands-on, experiential approach to learning, we recognize the importance of laying a strong foundation of academic skills. Throughout the school year, teachers work on grade level teams and subject area committees to ensure that fundamental skills of reading, writing and mathematics are presented in a thoughtful sequence and practiced in meaningful contexts. Specialists in art,  music, Spanish, library, technology, and physical education work closely with classroom teachers to enrich and extend the curriculum. A learning specialist provides expertise in assessing students' strengths and weaknesses and in planning instructional techniques for a broad range of learning styles.

Balancing an emphasis on the individual learner is our belief that children need to learn how to participate effectively in the classroom and school community. As we talk about the values of respect, honesty, and inclusiveness, we practice the everyday skills of cooperation, assertiveness, empathy and self-control. The issues that arise among members of a group working on a math project, playing a soccer game at recess, or choosing places to sit in the cafeteria offer endless opportunities for practicing peaceful conflict resolution. In a school that welcomes diversity, it is essential that children learn, from kindergarten on, to recognize and value differences in physical appearance and in family culture and background as they also learn about the feelings, aspirations, and values that they hold in common.

Strong relationships with parents are a vital part of an effective Lower School program. To help parents support the learning that goes on at school, teachers send home classroom newsletters with information about current areas of study. They communicate informally with parents through notes and phone calls as the need arises and ask parents to do the same. We encourage open communication between home and school and value parents' perspectives on their children and on our program.