Lower School

Welcome to Heathwood Hall’s Lower School

The elementary years, grades 1-4, provide an opportunity for learners to develop the necessary skills, strategies and habits for more advanced learning. Heathwood Hall’s Lower School is dedicated to establishing this groundwork with each of our children through careful attention to the academic and the social/emotional development of individuals.

The crucial academic goals for elementary children are centered around literacy – both language and number. Here in the Lower School we believe literacy learning is developmental in nature. Basic skills accumulate and are dependent on the mastery of previous skills. Learning progresses along a continuum, and it is our duty as teachers to know where each child is along the continuum and what instruction is necessary for continued growth. On-going assessment and reflection drive our curricular decisions as children learn to read, to write and to become competent in number operations.

The instruction in the Lower School provides opportunities for students to be active problem solvers, asking good questions and determining reasonable conclusions. We strive for deep understanding, not merely the accumulation of facts. Students are exposed to information suggested by national standards, and are invited to wonder and be curious. We like to talk about “building closets,” establishing the groundwork in the disciplines for future content and facts, not filling them up with isolated information that isn’t connected with the larger body of knowledge. In the Lower School we “build the closets,” and provide students with the skills and strategies to “open the doors” (reading/writing/numeracy) for future storage. The Lower School ends with the Fourth Grade Exhibition – a creative application of the language, math, science and social studies skills and information learned through the elementary years. This final experience is a proud moment for our fourth graders and their parents!

Because we believe that children’s social and emotional development contribute to the success of a child academically, we create a family atmosphere in the Lower School. Students are known by name by teachers across the grade levels. We as a school celebrate children’s milestones – the loss of teeth, birthdays, family additions – as we gather together as a community for our weekly Morning Meeting. Collectively, we develop a community who values and respects each other by developing our “social contract” (school rules) together, honoring individual voices. We also strive to widen our respect outside of ourselves as we participate in community service opportunities. These efforts are both school-wide (UNICEF) and student generated. Last year, our first graders, concerned about the baby ducks in our pond, started a campaign called “Dimes for Ducks” to raise money to purchase protected duck nests. We also carefully attend to the spiritual development of our children through daily devotionals and blessings, in addition to our weekly Lower School chapel service. Our School Chaplain interprets the biblical tradition for our students in ways that touch their lives in meaningful and developmentally appropriate ways.

The elementary years are also years where children begin to identify particular interests and gifts. Our Related Arts program provides our children with a variety of experiences that set the stage for future talent development. Students have weekly classes in music and visual art. Physical Education is offered daily, with a rotation through our outdoor education program, PEAK. Students participate in conversational Spanish classes twice weekly. Instructional technology and information literacy skills are imbedded within the classroom curricular goals, with flexible scheduling of the computer lab and library. There are also a myriad of after school opportunities for Lower School students that tap into the gifts and talents of individuals.

The staff of the Lower School is committed to our students and their success. We push students hard and have high expectations, yet we nurture and care for them. We think about our work, asking “why we do what we do” so that we are constantly growing and learning as teachers. We put the children at the center of our work, using their growth and joy of learning as the measure of our success. We love being a part of the Heathwood Hall Lower School family and would be honored for you to join us.

Margaret Jones

Lower School Head