The Lower School Day

Our goal in the Lower School is to open a new world of learning for our youngest Scots while contributing to each child's social and emotional growth. We strive to provide learning experiences for our students that combine a sense of community, trust, and friendships while igniting their interest and curiosity in the world around them.

ACADEMIC PROGRAM

The academic program uses developmentally appropriate practices that integrate the core subject areas in concert with the components of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) to help children build their first steps in gaining an international education with good principles, attitudes, and a positive sense of themselves and others. Our program provides a warm environment that fosters each child’s natural curiosity and sense of agency while developing critical thinking and research skills that engenders a love of learning not only every day, but for a lifetime.

School Day

School hours are 8:00 am - 3:15 pm (except Wednesday; 2:15 pm dismissal). During the school year, Saint Andrew’s School offers a morning care program beginning at 7:30 am as a courtesy to our parents. “Beyond the Bell,” the aftercare program, is designed to meet the needs of those parents whose family schedule does not coincide with the school’s schedule. It is available on either a full-time or drop-in basis for families until 5:30 pm daily.

The Lower School schedule is based on an A and B week rotation.

 

Scots Way

It is essential to create a healthy community and culture of care and respect. In the Lower School, students are introduced and practice the “Scots Way,” a set of agreed upon essential understandings that all members of the community strive to embody. Members of the Lower School build positive relationships with others, pledge to treat others with respect and kindness, discuss how to treat, support and advocate for one another, or tell an adult at school or at home if they witness unkind behaviors. It is important that students learn pro-social behaviors, understand the rules and how they will be enforced, and take responsibility for their actions.

Scots Sharing Circles

As part of our ongoing efforts to create a school climate that nurtures the development of empathy, compassion, and many other social and emotional intelligence skills, students in each of our Lower School classrooms will participate in a daily Scots Sharing Circle. Drawing upon multiple resources, including a curriculum called Character Strong: PurposeFull People, the Scots Sharing Circle will provide students opportunities to share and listen to others while teaching empathy, respect, cooperation, courage, perseverance, and many other skills to help them be successful in school and in life. Through their participation in Scots Sharing Circles, students will develop a sense of responsiveness to other people's feelings and opinions. They will be able to deepen their capacity to share and open their hearts and minds to the needs and perspectives of others. It is important that students have safe, predictable places to learn where they feel included and can develop healthy connections with teachers and classmates.

Chapel

Worship is central to Chapel and is celebrated with sensitivity and appreciation of the religious diversity present on campus. Chapel is held once a week and attendance is required of all students and faculty. In Chapel, an abbreviated Episcopal worship service is conducted and led by the Lower School Chaplain. Chapel is planned with inclusivity, creativity, and with age-appropriateness in mind to add to the richness of the students’ educational experience at Saint Andrew’s School. In keeping with the Saint Andrew’s School mission to educate in mind, body, and spirit, the students are given opportunities to experience God through a variety of means. These opportunities include prayer (including the Saint Andrew’s School prayer), Bible stories, activities, and inquiries.

Monthly Assembly

Our monthly assembly program is a special time when the Lower School community gathers to celebrate our school spirit and the “Scots Way” in action. Assemblies are collaboratively developed between the administration, teachers, and students to deepen the understanding of our core values of community, honor, academic excellence, integrity, and respect. Diverse speakers both within and outside of the school community provide concrete examples of our values. Students report and share news about our latest community service activities or new initiatives. We honor and acknowledge local, national, and global events that reflect the cultural, religious, and ethnic makeup of our school community.

Special Events

Children develop confidence and deepen connections through the Lower School’s many special events and activities, such as annual traditions, demonstrations of academic or artistic achievement, or activities focused on community service. Some events are class- specific, while others span several grades, and include parents, grandparents, and special friends. Examples of special events in the Lower School include: Honor Pinning, Saint Andrew’s Day, Spirit Week and Homecoming, Scholastic Book Fair, Thanksgiving Feast, Lessons and Carols, Grandparents Day, Spiritual Journey Days, and Field Days.

Service

As a school in the Episcopal tradition, a member of the International Baccalaureate (IB), and the Round Square organization, Saint Andrew’s School is steeped in a plethora of service projects where the students are given a wide variety of opportunities to respond to the needs of others in our neighborhood and around the world. Lower School students, kindergarten through grade 5 are involved in meaningful service projects and activities. As an IB school, we follow the tenet that when students act with agency, they do so through voice, choice, and reflection on these projects. Being cognizant of the needs of others, the students seize the opportunity to carry out an action plan, from beginning to end.

Technology

In the Lower School, technology is integrated in the educational process to enhance learning, support the students in their inquiries, and develop their conceptual understanding. A 1:1 iPad program is maintained in pre-kindergarten through grade 2 and the 1:1 MacBook Air laptop program is maintained in grade 3 through grade 5. A flexible learning model has been adopted that encourages collaboration and team teaching between the classroom teachers and the Academic Technology Coach in an effort to identify technologies that can be used to enhance, engage, and support student learning. Skills are taught through all curriculum areas, where they are learned in meaningful ways in the context of classroom learning. Applications and programs are chosen to maintain a balance between creation and consumption of content. Teachers empower students to create, reflect, and share a wide variety of student learning, including photos, videos, drawings, text, and more.