Elementary Education at Grace
Kindergarten to Grade 5
Core Academics
With a solid foundation of intellectual, social-emotional, and physical education, and a spirit of inquiry to spur continued learning, students enter the Elementary grades ready for more. There is one class per grade. In Kindergarten, there is one lead teacher and an assistant teacher, while in Grades 1-5, with an average of 13 students. Each grade has one homeroom teacher who teaches the core academic subjects – language arts, math, and social studies (see tabs below) – with support from a learning specialist who ensures that Grace meets students where they are.
Good Students, Good People
Grace elementary students participate confidently in spelling and geography bees, present science fair projects, and compete against other area students at the Mid-Atlantic Episcopal Schools Association (MAESA) fair. They are academically strong. But educating students to achieve academically does not come at the expense of educating them to be good people. Weekly Chapel and Morning Meeting – which is a daily opportunity for the students and teacher to come together and greet each other, discuss important issues, and set the stage for the day – build community. They remind us that academic excellence demands stretching the mind and nurturing the heart.
Special Subjects and Extracurricular Activities
Special subjects teachers have their own classrooms for Spanish, science, art, and music. Health and physical education meet indoors and out, and the PE teacher also serves as the athletics coach. Competitive athletics teams are open to students in Grades 4 and 5. Extracurricular activities round out the rigorous academic program.
After Grace: Graduate Outplacement
Grace Episcopal Day School has a strong outplacement program. Because class sizes are small, our Head of School and Director of the Elementary Division can spend time with each student and their parents through the process, from developing a list of “best fit” schools to signing up for entrance exams to gathering teacher recommendations. Outplacement coffees in the fall ensure that parents of students in the upper grades have a chance to speak with admission representatives from next-step independent schools.
Click on the tabs below to learn how we teach the core academic subjects in Grades 2-5.
The goal of the language arts program at Grace is to instill a love of reading and writing in each child and to encourage students to become lifelong learners. Our teachers encourage students to read and discuss a variety of genres, both narrative and nonfiction, and are encouraged to think beyond the text. Grace teachers enjoy sharing authentic literature experiences with students through reading aloud books and poetry.
Our reading program is Guided Reading by Fountas and Pinnell. Each student is assessed at the beginning of the year to find his/her independent reading and instructional reading levels. Students are introduced to a variety of genres including fiction, non-fiction, textbooks, magazines, and online articles.
Our writing curriculum is Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study for Primary Writing, Grade 2 and Units of Study for Teaching Writing, Grades 3–5. Grace students learn to value themselves as authors. A word study program supports our readers and writers and incorporates spelling, phonics, and vocabulary to round out the language arts curriculum.
Math in Focus: Singapore Math is our math curriculum for Grades 2-5. Math in Focus has a balance of conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. The concrete-pictorial-abstract learning progression ensures that students gain a deep understanding of math so that they understand why procedures work and are able to think flexibly about how to apply them. Grade 2 sees a continuation from the lower grades of concept and skill development through hands-on instruction and practice with emphasis on basic facts, place value, mental math, and geometry concepts. Grades 3-5 have an emphasis on problem-solving, skill consolidation, and a deep understanding in preparation for algebra. Students become proficient with fractions, decimals, ratios, model drawing, expressions, equations, and inequalities.
Students look beyond their own communities to examine the history, civics, geography, and government systems of peoples outside of our country and at various points in world history. Field trips, current events, technology, and primary sources are the mechanisms used to build student motivation and enhance the learning experience. Students learn to appreciate the significance of their democratic citizenship and to understand the meaning and importance of global interdependence. Social studies lessons are enhanced through curriculum units that are integrated where possible with language arts, math, art, music, science, and Spanish. Through social studies, students learn to think critically and creatively, employing skills such as reasoning, decision-making, and negotiation. It is our goal to prepare students to become informed and contributing members of a diverse America and a global society.