Lower School
Welcome from Division Head Sarah Beck
I’m excited and proud to tell you about Langley’s vibrant Lower School. Our program gradually and intentionally defines and shapes the critical years between Primary School and Middle School. Through our inquiry-based curriculum, students in grades 1-5 develop academic skills that allow them to ask important, probing questions and apply their learning to real-world problems.
In first grade, children begin reading books independently, then move from learning to read to reading to learn through nonfiction texts. By third grade they’re writing, publishing, and sharing their own “how-to” books. The math curriculum spirals throughout the Lower School years to build foundational skills in number sense, operations, fractions, decimals, and other concepts. Students work cooperatively and independently to apply strategies to real-life problems as they develop meta-cognitive thinking. In science, students grow from seeking to understand states of matter as first-graders to performing lab exercises to demonstrate and evaluate Newton’s three laws of motion as fifth-graders. And Lower School scientists visit our state-of-the art science labs several times a week as part of our inquiry-based instructional program.
By integrating the curriculum with children’s developmental stages, our expert teachers ensure that your child’s emotional intelligence and academic achievement continually strengthen each other. Inside and beyond the classroom, our supportive community helps children take meaningful risks as they develop their creativity, perseverance, and self-awareness. By the end of fifth grade, your child is ready for a mini-rotation of classes and eager to move on to our Middle School.
Please take a few moments to review important features of our program. I invite you to contact me with any questions, and to visit our Lower School in person. We would all love to meet you and your family.
-Sarah
Learn more about Sarah>>
Our program
- Small, flexible instruction groups at each grade level
- A robust Resource Department
- Lab work with a science specialist
- Formal drama instruction
- Public-speaking opportunities
- Carefully integrated learning technologies in every subject
- Learning opportunities outside the classroom
- Student-led service learning projects
- Special leadership roles for fifth-graders
- Class rotations, advisory groups, and dedicated gathering spaces
- Enrichment classes, the Lower School Chorus, and Club E.D.
Small, flexible instruction groups at each grade level
A robust Resource Department
Lab work with a science specialist
Formal drama instruction
Public-speaking opportunities
Carefully integrated learning technologies in every subject
Learning opportunities outside the classroom
Student-led service learning projects
Special leadership roles for fifth-graders
Class rotations, advisory groups, and dedicated gathering spaces
Enrichment classes, the Lower School Chorus, and Club E.D.
Inside Our Lower School
Lower School Hours
Grades 1-5:
8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Optional Extended Day:
3:00 – 6:00 p.m.