1st Grade – 4th Grade

The Elementary Program will continue Mandell’s commitment to academic excellence and good citizenship. Students in grades 1-4 will develop solid foundations in both literacy and numeracy and will be supported as they gain confidence in their abilities as increasingly independent active learners. Through small group and individualized work, students will master early academic skills and become effective readers, problem solvers, and communicators. Weekly experiences in Music, Wellness/Athletics, Library, Science, Art, Computers, American Sign Language and Spanish or French will expand students’ understanding of themselves and the world around them. Conflict resolution and community building skills will be presented and modeled throughout each grade in age-appropriate ways. Reading and math specialists will be available to provide both enrichment and support for all students. As is the case in our pre-school division, it is important to us that each child is progressing based upon their readiness. No child will be asked to “slow down” their intellectual development so that the rest of their class can “catch-up”. Conversely, no child will be un-reasonably “pushed” or made to feel “behind” their peers if their path to learning takes a somewhat different course.

Classes will have two sections per grade with a homeroom per section. They will do much of their work in small subgroups comprised of subsets of the grade as a whole. Formal conferences will be held three times a year and teachers and specialists will be available at all times via e-mail or phone. A full roster of after school programs will be available to these grades including drama, art, music, photography, chess and sports.