Primary Grades @ SRA

The primary grade program at SRA is a joyful place for children to learn and grow. Our curriculum is designed to build on a child's natural sense of curiosity and connection to the world around them. Inquiry driven, project-based studies provide a rich and meaningful context for student learning. Academic instruction is thoughtfully designed to meet the needs of each learner and challenge students to achieve their personal best, creating a strong foundation for future learning.

Our 10:1 student-to-teacher ratio allows each teacher to structure their learning environment and materials to each student’s learning level and strength. This ensures that as students progress through the primary grades, they build strong foundations in reading, writing, and math; explore the natural and physical world around them, and enhance their learning through hands-on opportunities. The program fosters intellectual curiosity, inspiring students to make connections, ask questions, think analytically, and act with integrity, all within a supportive and nurturing environment.

Primary Grade Highlights:

Your child will gain from learning in multi-age classrooms that are skill-based, not grade-level based.
Students rotate through subject-specific classes in groups of no more than 10 students.
Students are allowed to work at their own pace, not a pace set by the teacher or peers. The vast majority of our students complete at least a year and a half of math each year and grow an average of 20 months in reading fluency and comprehension.
If there is a hands-on way to teach something, that is what we do! You will see experiments, projects, and exploration going on in all academic areas.
Our curriculum is concept-driven which allows learning to be transferable to new situations – not locked in time and place.
We have monthly character education themes and service projects.

The primary grades classrooms are vibrant and loving places of learning. Students care about what they learn, they have a voice in their classrooms, posing questions of interest to them and bringing their individual strengths to the process. Through inquiry and exploration, the program engages students in their learning while continuing to build their fundamental skills in all subject areas.

We believe that students learn best when they're empowered and feel ownership of their learning. This translates into a joy for learning that explains why SRA students love coming to school. At SRA, every student is known, valued, and celebrated by their teachers, classmates, and community. Social-emotional learning plays a vital role in our lower school program and is integrated throughout the curriculum. Students learn the strategies and skills to work collaboratively, resolve conflicts, act with compassion, and lead with courage.