Many of our students start in Primary and graduate in 8th grade. That can mean ten years or more with the same friends, teachers who know them well and a campus that feels like home. Social growth is not a side effect here. We teach it every day.
Learning side by side
Our classrooms mix ages. Students spend three years in the same room, first as one of the youngest and then as one of the oldest. Younger students learn by watching. Older students learn by teaching, and they find out they are good at it.
Students work in pairs and small groups as often as they work alone. Two friends count to one hundred together on the hundred board. A small group lays out a map of a continent. The work itself teaches them to share, listen and take turns.
Words for the hard moments
Friendship takes practice, and so does disagreeing. In Primary, students learn grace and courtesy, from greeting a friend to asking to join in and saying no kindly. In Upper Elementary, they settle conflicts at the peace table. Each person speaks, and each person listens, until they find a way forward.
Teachers guide, but students do the talking. By Middle School, they are the ones the younger students look up to.
Doing things together
Shared work builds real bonds. Lower Elementary students go on going-out trips they help plan. Upper Elementary students plan and cook lunch for about 50 people every week. Eighth graders plan, budget and book their graduation trip together.
Celebrations bring the whole school together, from Peace Day and the World’s Fair to the Holiday Program and graduation.
Friends for years
Some friendships that start on a Primary rug last all the way to 8th grade graduation, and beyond. Each spring, our graduates who are finishing high school come back to walk through campus one more time.
