A Pre-K to Grade 12 Independent Quaker Day School Serving the Greater Durham-Chapel Hill Area

Assessment

In the Lower School assessment is ongoing and focused on providing useful feedback regarding the social, emotional, physical, and intellectual growth of the child.

Teachers use a variety of methods to assess student learning, including:

  • Focused observation
  • Research-based assessment tools
  • Teacher-developed assessments
  • Individual conferences
  • Criteria-based rubrics
  • Students’ evaluation of their own work

Based in sound principles of child development, we recognize that each child grows in different dimensions and at different rates. Our assessment practices allow us to evaluate each child as a unique individual, rooted in our knowledge of developmentally-appropriate learning goals and national standards.

Information about a child’s progress is communicated both informally and at regularly-scheduled intervals throughout the year. Two parent-teacher conferences are scheduled each year to discuss a child’s progress, and at the end of the school year an extensive written report on each child is prepared. These narrative reports summarize the student's social, emotional, and academic progress for the year. There is also frequent informal communication between teachers and parents as we work together to support the growth of each child.


The most important part of kids' learning and development involves play and creativity. Kids love to create; in fact they are born creators. By working with tools and a variety of interesting materials, they are able to connect with the physical world and build lasting experiences and knowledge about how it works. Michael Bonsignore and Jenni Scoggin, Lower School teachers

Growing Edges

Our students are asked to rise to the challenge of owning their education. Part of teaching them self-awareness means having them work to identify their own "growing edges," to set goals in areas where they have greatest opportunity.