Elementary Program
The elementary years are a natural continuation of the preschool experience at Smith Street Maternelle. During these pivotal years of child development, we continue to nurture each student’s innate sense of wonder and guide them towards a lifelong love of learning. Now proficient in both French and English, with a growing sense of self, students not only delve deeper into mastery of academic content (literacy, math, science), but they also learn to identify emotions, personal strengths and challenges in order to grow into the complex human beings that modern society requires.
We aim to clarify each student’s responsibility to the wider world—family, friends, community, humanity. We start with the self and move outward; this is reflected in our curriculum content and robust creative arts programming as well as our interactions with the students. Social Studies, or “La découverte du monde,” is the throughline for all academic learning and arts practices, providing dynamic experiences inside and outside of the classroom that encourage curiosity, discovery and self-expression. During their studies, children approach concepts from more than one subject area through integrated projects, inviting them to understand learning as a deeply connected set of processes, not as compartmentalized subjects.
Our teachers work in close partnership with the students, and create a collaborative and interdependent community where children take ownership of their education and their place in the classroom, the school, and in society.
As in our preschool program, at the elementary level, our educators are also experts in child development and passionate about progressive education, which allows them to create rich learning environments that promote critical and creative thinking while nurturing academic, social, and emotional growth. Students build meaningful and lasting relationships with their teachers, thereby cultivating a sense of connection and trust which allows for deeper learning to take place.
From preschool through 8th grade, students engage in immersive and meaningful learning experiences and build critical skills for success in school and in life. Additionally, students have access to outstanding resources and technology. Our new school building includes a lab for science, technology, engineering and math, as well as music and art studios, and many other communal spaces that inspire learning and exploration. The students learn by doing, and, through this process, they regularly practice reasoning, collaborating, and problem-solving to discover more about themselves and the world around them. Our bilingual graduates enter the world with a flexible and open mind, mastery of essential academic skills, and a solid foundation for the challenges and excitement of high school and beyond.
To learn more about our unique elementary program, join us for an information session, or email us.