Lower School

The Beginning of a Journey

Confidence. It is a first grader on stage belting out a song in front of an audience of hundreds. It's five-year olds tackling a new math concept with eagerness instead of trepidation. It is a fourth-grader opening her heart to write about a defining moment in her life. And it is the light in a little girl's eyes when she understands that she can read. In Lower School, we cultivate that confidence by emphasizing that risk-taking is an important part of the learning process. In our nurturing and stimulating environment, students in pre-kindergarten through grade four experience a hands-on approach to teaching and develop an early love of learning, creating, and expressing their individuality. 

Beginning in pre-kindergarten, the girls take turns at learning centers to help them understand abstract concepts through hands-on exploration. We also understand that imagination catches fire most often in an environment of play and when the learning is fun. Creative writing, reading, foreign language, computer skills, and math are taught within a spiraling curriculum that increases in difficulty while revisiting and reinforcing basic skills. Throughout the Lower School, the girls create art, write in journals, conduct experiments, forge friendships, develop problem-solving skills, play games, and throughout it all, they learn.

The Lower School Guidance Counselor's door is always open to the girls. To the students, her office is a safe haven where they can go to talk things through, get a difference of opinion mediated, or simply to share happy news about their day. She also serves as an incredible resource for parents, helping them find answers through each stage of development. Faculty members from this department teach the children Living Skills classes, tackling topics such as sharing, respect and how to be a good friend.

Each week a member of the pre-kindergarten is assigned a certain task: line-leader, fish feeder, flag holder, etc. They begin to develop a sense of responsibility, as well as experience a little moment in the limelight.

Second graders are often heard quoting Shakespeare verses to each other during their studies of the book series "A Child's Portrait of Shakespeare." The girls study seven of William Shakespeare's most popular plays and create a timeline of his life, write character letters using quill pens, end the unit with a performance - Elizabethan costumes and all - of several famous scenes.

The fourth grade students choose a famous and accomplished woman, research her life, write a comprehensive report, and then present their subject at their Open Gates: Presentation of Women's Biographies.

From the island of St. Lucia to Australia to Oman, the Lower School students travel the globe from the comfort of their own classrooms. They view costumes, hear music and sample food from the many different cultures that make up the McGehee community.