Program

Curriculum

The Lower School curriculum is varied. Throughout a child's years in the Lower School, mathematics, reading, writing, and thinking skills are developed and strengthened. Each fall, teachers administer a series of individualized, informal diagnostics to assess where in these areas of the program each student is ready to begin. Students then proceed through the year at their own rates, working independently and in small groups, under the careful supervision of their teachers.

Physical education, creative movement, art and music are natural parts of young children's lives, and all are essential elements of the weekly curriculum. Physical education classes and fitness activities provide opportunities for skill development and cooperative teamwork experiences. The Lower School's art, music, and dance classes help children develop skills for creative expression.

Students and staff celebrate the year's Flight theme with hot air balloon rides

Students in the Lower School are exposed to the wonder and diversity of the world around them through science, social studies, and Spanish language and culture. Science classes actively use the School's campus, focusing on nature study. Students also perform experiments that teach them about natural phenomena and the properties of substances. Design Technology projects give students hands-on experiences with designing and building working models of vehicles, bridges, etc. Social studies projects let students learn how customs, cultures and languages vary throughout the world and also show them ways in which people in all places and times are fundamentally the same.

Interest Groups, which meet once a week for three- to four-week sessions, provide students with opportunities to explore special topics such as drama, carpentry, basketry, cooking, video production, sewing, screen printing, computers, animal care, rockets, creek life, and the universe. Groups are led by staff, parents, or other volunteers.

Each year, the Lower School also focuses on particular themes for study. Past themes have included walls and bridges, flight, Latin America, Africa, the human body, ecology, North Carolina, fantasy realms, and wildlife. Each theme is integrated into the curriculum. Having the whole Lower School focus on a common theme provides many opportunities for sharing resources and experiences and for strengthening the community.

Lower School students receive basic instruction in the use of the library during weekly library classes. The 5,000-volume Lower School library includes fiction and nonfiction books as well as a variety of multi-media resources. Each classroom has computers to serve as tools in support of various curricular areas.

Parent involvement is welcome. Parents help by reading with students, helping in the library, typing student work and teaching Interest Groups, as well as by working with the various projects and committees of Parent Meeting, the CFS parent group.

Daily Schedule

Each day begins with a few minutes of silence, as children "settle in" with their classmates. Following a time of sharing and announcements, students proceed to small groups. At 10:00 AM classes break for a half-hour snack and recess. Students then return for more small group classes, which may include teacher-directed groups, independent work, and projects. Older students are encouraged to assume responsibility for planning the use of some of their own time. They establish goals and evaluate their progress with a teacher frequently. Cooperative learning groups are another distinctive feature of the Lower School program. Once a week the morning schedule includes Meeting for Worship. This is a time in which the entire Lower School gathers for silent reflection on a query and sharing of messages from the heart.

The children have an hour for lunch and recess. Recess is supervised by teachers and allows children time for impromptu games and for socializing with friends.

Afternoon classes vary in length and end at 2:45. Clean-up chores at the end of every day reinforce a sense of community as well as an awareness of responsibility for the environment in which students live and learn. The day concludes as it begins, with a brief, silent "settling out" in each classroom.

Family Grouping

The approximately 124 students of the Lower school are divided into four ungraded classes which provide a sense of group identity and a center for day to day activities. Classes are divided into smaller groups to work on academic skills as well as artistic and athletic endeavors. Children enter either the River or Sky class at age six, and usually after two years are placed in the Forest or Mountain class until they are ready to go to Middle School.