Early Learners
Organization, concentration, patience, and working independently are the emphasis of our Early Learner programs.




FEATURED CURRICULUM ELEMENTS

1
Exploration & Discovery

2
Movement & Play

3
Foundational Learning

4
Promoting Independence

5
Broad-Based Approach

6
Signature Programs

Our Junior Kindergarten program is open to children ages three through five. With their self-contained learning center and adjacent playground, Junior Kindergartners are sheltered from the hustle and bustle of a busy hallway and surrounded with meaningful opportunities for learning and growth.
Mornings are geared toward kindergarten preparation and the development of important literacy and numeracy skills. Following lunchtime, outdoor play, and rest, afternoons include enrichment and reinforcement sessions that give children the time they need to explore, question, and deepen their understanding of the morning lessons. Throughout the day, students engage in hands-on activities that foster exploration and discovery while learning to interact with their fellow classmates.
All Junior Kindergartners enjoy Spanish instruction, music, library, and PE weekly, and a highlight of the year is their class play performed for the entire school.
Our Junior Kindergarten program is a five-day program, offering flexibility in the length of the school day.

Our Kindergarten program is built on foundational literacy and numeracy programs and a philosophy that values hands-on, experiential learning in a nurturing classroom. Kindergarten students benefit from an inspiring curriculum grounded in rich content and essential skill-based development.
Reading skills are developed using Orton-Gillingham, a program that recognizes strong phonemic awareness as the starting place for fostering literacy. Students practice rhyming, alphabet recognition, letter sounds, and other proven methods that lead to reading readiness, and they enjoy regular read-alouds of classic and contemporary children’s literature.
With its emphasis on starting with the concrete, Developing Roots, our math program, provides a framework for student growth in one-to-one correspondence counting, sorting, using number bonds, rote counting, and beginning to understand basic math concepts.
Using small and large group instruction, teachers lead students through lessons about the seasons, holiday celebrations, weather, plants, and animals. Classroom learning is enhanced through real-life experiences, including trips to an apple orchard, the town of Orange, and the local animal shelter, and students engage in community service activities that expand their understanding of the world.
Kindergartners attend Spanish and music classes twice a week, art and library weekly, and physical education classes daily, and they take the stage for Declamation Day as well as their class play.
