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Nursery and Pre-K students flourish in a program that thoughtfully balances teacher-led instruction and open-ended learning opportunities to educate the whole child. Through collaborative play and hands-on exploration, students develop both the social-emotional skills and the foundational literacy and numeracy abilities that set them up for success in Kindergarten.
View Curriculum GuideNursery
Designed to nurture and to challenge, the student-centered Nursery program includes thoughtfully planned experiences to extend a child’s own discoveries and cultivate their curiosity. Play is a central learning modality. Guided to explore the world they inhabit while treating each other with kindness and respect, the skills children develop in Nursery form a secure foundation for academic success.
In Learning Centers, children focus on literacy or math activities in small groups led by a teacher. In literacy, the focus is on the development of expressive and receptive language. Rich exposure to stories, poems, and nonfiction creates a strong foundation for cultivating pre-reading skills as students develop letter recognition and phonological awareness. Mathematics is present throughout the day, from counting the days on the calendar to evaluating the number of blocks it takes to construct a tower. Through interactive and hands-on activities, students build a solid understanding of counting and number value, patterning and sorting, and establish the basis for later mathematical skills.
Pre-Kindergarten
The Pre-Kindergarten program facilitates individual growth, encourages collaboration among students, and celebrates community. Children begin to identify their place in the world as it expands from family to school to the wider community. They also learn how people celebrate growth and change in other cultures through the study of diverse holidays and festivals.
The day is rich with songs, stories, and poems. Small group, teacher-led lessons develop foundational literacy skills, including writing through the developmentally-appropriate and multisensory Handwriting Without Tears program. Explicit instruction in letter formation, as well as in letter-sound correspondence, gives students the tools needed for later phonetic decoding of new words. Manipulative-based math games and readiness activities foster numeracy skills. In addition to developing their number sense, spatial understanding, and vocabulary, the children strengthen many mathematical skills as they identify and build patterns; categorize, sort, and arrange materials; compare various phenomena; and begin to graph their discoveries.
Early Childhood Specialist Program
Specialist teachers in science, music, physical education, religion, and library extend the Early Childhood program beyond the homeroom, and children attend a Chapel service regularly.
Hands-on science activities encompass experimentation, investigation, and discovery, developing a flexible and creative mindset. Music and movement align with the rhythms of language, and kinesthetic activities engage the children in dynamic learning of both mind and body, offering experiential understanding of space and time. Through the exploration of a broad range of art materials and mediums, children develop visual discrimination and fine motor skills. Visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art deepen the children’s appreciation of creative expression and cultural diversity.