Grade 1

Grade 1 marks an important transition period as students leave kindergarten behind and settle into the life of the Lower School. Students begin to develop the key skills and knowledge they need to move into deeper thinking and questioning.

In a warm and happy learning community, students care about each other and each other’s learning, and are not afraid to take risks and make mistakes.

Grade 1 offers the Primary Years Program of the International Baccalaureate curriculum. In this student-centered curriculum, learning is inquiry-based, ensuring that each student’s strengths and interests are at the forefront of the learning experience.

Students may study Spanish, French, or Mandarin. Additional language offerings and Mother Tongue language classes are available upon request.

Apply to grade 1

Peek Inside the Classroom
Explore the Curriculum

Peek Inside the Classroom

On any day, you might find our Grade 1 students:

Teaming up with older student buddies from Grade 3 to program robotic bees ― “bee bots” ― to complete mazes
Working together to create claymation videos showing the lifecycles of falcons, salamanders, parrot fish, and cobras
Taking a field trip to beautiful Stone Barn Farms to learn about plants and animals
Becoming “Mathletes” and developing math skills at their own pace through an online learning program called Mathletics
Leading their own student-parent conferences to show parents all that they’ve learned!

Explore the Curriculum

In first grade, students begin to develop the underlying skills and knowledge they need in order to move into deeper thinking and questioning. Students are given opportunities to learn and problem solve collectively, as well as individually. Our goal is that children will start to feel responsible for their own learning and behavior.

We believe that all students learn most successfully in a safe, nurturing environment, one in which students care about each other and each other’s learning — an environment where students are not afraid to take risks and make mistakes.

Curriculum Guide