ACADEMICS

Our primary goal of the Intermediate Grade Levels Program is to build the foundation skills.

The years of middle childhood are characterized by a special enthusiasm for school, as well as a growing sense of personal accomplishment and self-assurance. Students begin to think of themselves as role models for younger children and take genuine delight in being called to a greater sense of both independence and responsibility. Students in these grade levels are curious, competent and confident. In short, they are eager learners who are a particular joy to teach!

We seek to capitalize on this natural zeal for learning by exposing children to a widening base of knowledge that assists them in making broader connections to the larger world. Cognitive development allows children to better retrieve information and use it to solve more sophisticated problems, and so the curriculum emphasizes critical thinking and creative problem solving.

Literature moves to the forefront, and children analyze and discuss a wide variety of literary genres, using a rich assortment of children’s novels. In math we emphasize foundational skills and conceptual understanding by tackling practical, real-world problems of interest to younger students. Social studies and science occupy a more prominent place in the intermediate grade levels. The science program integrates and develops basic knowledge, investigative experience, and curiosity through student involvement. Students experience a full-range of activities which may be explored through firsthand experiences – activities such as observations and data recording, the use of magnets, gears, and a wide range of living and non-living materials which introduce children to the basic scientific principles.