Welcome to Lower School at SCH Academy

In Lower School, all students participate in CEL projects each year. In partnership with CEL faculty, our teachers design authentic experiences for young children in which they identify a need in our school or local community. From there, students are guided to gather data and develop ideas for solutions. Critical components of Lower School CEL projects include developing empathy for others, effectively communicating with teammates, and incorporating elements of new media or financial literacy into their projects.

CEL Program

Our Lower Schoolers jump feet first into Chinese language and cultures. We tap into our students’ five senses to bring Chinese not only into their linguistic wheelhouse, but into their hearts, as well. When you enter a Chinese classroom or follow one of their classes out into the woods, you will find the students engaged in movement, reading books, drawing portraits, creating stories, singing songs, tasting dumplings, playing games, or writing poems in the target language. Students put on their creative thinking caps to tackle themes in Chinese that align with their grade-level studies. 

Through these immersive experiences, our Lower School students finish their elementary experience not only with novice proficiency in Chinese language and culture, but also, for many, it ignites a life-long study of Chinese. Bringing Chinese to them at such a young age is a critical so that they seamlessly integrate tones and characters to joyfully embrace proficiency. Lower school students have the opportunity to reach Intermediate or even advanced-level language and cultural competency skills by the time they graduate from high school, opening a world of possibility beyond SCH.

Our language arts program offers a diverse curriculum that capitalizes on and expands students’ interests. Students are immersed in a print-rich environment where they engage with a range of increasingly complex, high-quality literature and informational texts. Our reading program meets each student where he or she is and offers targeted instruction to further develop skilled and fluent readers. The writing program emphasizes constructing pieces in a variety of different genres and learning how to edit, make revisions, and publish work. The fundamentals of handwriting, spelling, and developmentally-appropriate grammatical concepts are also taught.

The mathematics program at SCH aims to develop students’ understanding of our number system, problem-solving skills, and logical thinking. At all ages, this is accomplished by applying skills and concepts to real-life applications as much as possible. In Lower School, we use the Math in Focus curriculum to provide a comprehensive and rigorous mathematical experience for students. Concepts are first introduced concretely with manipulatives, then drawn or represented pictorially, and finally represented abstractly with numbers and algorithms. This process allows for deep understanding of content and procedures. Our math curriculum also offers opportunities for interested students to pursue additional challenge through Continental Math and Math Olympiad.

The Lower School Music program incorporates elements of music theory, history, choral singing, and music of many cultures. Classroom experiences span a diversity of activities including singing, composition, playing instruments, and movement to give students a varied and active approach to music learning. Schoolwide performances are designed to highlight student learning and happen twice a year. The Lower School also has a variety of music assemblies sprinkled throughout the year that touch on academic subjects such as science, Chinese, holidays, and more. Each Lower School student participates in their grade level choir, Pre-K to grade 4, in addition to general music to learn the crucial building blocks essential to creating music. 

Students are introduced to string instruments in 3rd grade and then select an instrument to study in 4th grade (such as violin, bass, or drums). This progression is designed so students can decide early on whether or not to study an instrument before entering Middle School.

Music Program

New media skills are introduced to our youngest students by integrating projects in each grade level in collaboration with Lower School teachers. We are equipped with a state-of-the-art Maker Space which is overseen by a Lower School New Media Specialist. These projects introduce students to digital fabrication, circuitry, data collection, and storytelling using digital media. Beginning with formal studies in 4th grade, students learn to code using SCRATCH and create a functioning music keyboard with student-produced circuitry. These skills become the foundation for our Middle School CEL curriculum.

New Media Program

Lower School performing arts experiences begin with frequent opportunities to sing, act, and present in front of an audience. Formal dramatic study, however, begins in Middle School where students have the opportunity to try out for a coed production in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. Upper School students can choose to continue their theatrical interest by taking production electives and joining Players, the school’s award-winning extracurricular dramatic troupe.

Performing Arts Program

The Physical Education Department believes that all of our students should be exposed to a healthy lifestyle that encourages daily physical activity and healthy eating. Our comprehensive curriculum provides students with the opportunity to develop body awareness, explore movement, discover cooperative games, improve sport-specific skills, and experience team sports. We value the team experience and the life skills one develops while being a team member. Through these activities, students learn how to have fun, win and lose, show good sportsmanship, and develop discipline and responsibility. Our physical education program supports the development of a well-balanced individual by providing the opportunity to develop not only physically, but also socially, emotionally, and mentally.

Students in every grade are offered challenging and exciting learning experiences that help them develop the skills of scientific inquiry and an understanding of the laws, systems, and structures that define our natural world. Classes provide students with opportunities to use the most up-to-date equipment and technologies as they ask questions, design experiments, explore, collaborate, and become efficient and effective problem solvers. Our interdisciplinary curriculum integrates engineering principles in meaningful and relevant ways and asks students to quantify their work using appropriate mathematical and statistical tools. Students also often use the arts and new media to model their work or creatively and richly display what they have synthesized.

Building on the curiosity, sociability, adventurous spirit, and abundant energy of young students, the social studies curriculum allows students to develop an understanding of themselves, their communities, and the experiences of others locally and around the world—both present day and from significant historical periods. Social studies instruction is largely project-based and inquiry-driven, and involves hands-on collaborative learning as well as age-appropriate research.

In Lower School, we believe that students should use technology in purposeful ways to enhance their work. Students learn specific classroom-supported activities with a personal iPad, such as Hour of Code or early robotics courses. Our extensive resources in the Lower School Maker Space allow students to explore 3D printing, laser cutting, and other new media that tie back to what's learned in science or language arts. At SCH, we have a responsibility to support children to become healthy and knowledgeable consumers of digital information. Teachers and students take pride in understanding the balance between using tech to support learning and the value of getting outdoors and learning from the world around us. 

Learn about our Outdoor Classroom

In Lower School, our students sculpt, paint, draw, weave, cut, paste, construct, and—most importantly—use their imaginations. Teaching is grounded in the fundamentals of art education: aesthetic perception, creative expression, art history, the study of world cultures, and informed judgment. Our youngest students enjoy studio experiences where they are encouraged to use their senses, knowledge, and feelings to “see” and interpret their surroundings. The art studio is a place of discovery and every student's perspective is honored as they explore different media. Throughout the creative process, students learn how to analyze, interpret, and critique their own and others’ works of art.

Arts Program