Lower School

Our Lower School reading program encourages students to become flexible, resilient readers. Students are exposed to a variety of genres, including picture books, news articles, non-fiction books, short stories, novels, plays, and poetry. Discussions and close readings of selected passages enhance vocabulary development, comprehension skills, and development of opinions and conclusions based on evidence in texts. Explicit phonics instruction, especially in Grades K–3, is also an important building block for our young readers.

Our program focuses on opinion, argument, informational and narrative writing, which develop students’ ability to write both academically and creatively. Within our writing units, students experience the entire writing process: pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Through this practice, students develop knowledge of grammar, sentence structure, writer’s voice, audience, and overall organization.

Our classroom libraries allow students to choose books that they want to read at the appropriate level for them. Lessons include individual, partner, small-group, and whole-class instruction.

Our German curriculum is based on the most modern German curriculum of Thuringia and includes reading, creative writing, spelling, grammar, and oral expression.

We motivate students to become independent readers from the beginning, through read-alouds and action-oriented, hands-on engagement with stories and non-fiction texts. At the same time, we enable students to develop a secure knowledge of letters, of letter sounds, and of combining sounds to make words, so they will acquire both the technical skills to decode the content of texts and the joy of reading. Through writing their own texts, students develop their own theories of the rules of written language. We build on these theories by introducing spelling and grammar rules and by expanding vocabulary. In the area of oral expression, we create a variety of opportunities for conversation and teach students to narrate, discuss, argue, and present.

For German track students, our Spanish program takes a conversational approach in Lower School. Students are exposed to the language through storytelling, songs, brief video selections, poems, and games. They study places around the world, including cultures that speak Spanish. Vocabulary and grammar expectations grow each year, and students practice not only conversing but also presenting projects in Spanish.

For our Spanish track students, our program is more robust, with about 70% of instruction taking place in Spanish in Kindergarten and 50% of instruction taking place in Spanish in Grades 1 and up.

Sachkunde, or "general studies," introduces students to a broad range of topics, including science, geography, history, and social studies, through hands-on, inquiry-based learning. Rooted in observation and exploration, Sachkunde encourages curiosity about the natural world and human society.

Our social-studies curriculum, tailored to the interests of our young learners, includes history, geography, economics, government, and civics. Really, it’s the study of humanity—the people and events that collectively have shaped our nation and our world. Topics include family, identity, community, occupations, and geography, along with elements of United States and New York State history, including the study of Native peoples and colonization.

We strive to help students make sense of the world, encouraging them to make connections between major ideas and their own lives, and helping them see themselves as active members of a global community. In addition to teaching content, we engage our students in historical thinking: raising questions, thinking critically, considering varied perspectives, and gathering evidence in support of interpretations.