Elementary Program
The Multi-Grade Experience
The Elementary Program at Lesley Ellis School serves kindergarten through grade 4 students in a small, progressive independent school in Arlington, MA. Students build strong academic foundations while developing curiosity, creativity, confidence, and a sense of responsibility within a close-knit classroom community.
Kindergarten students learn in a dedicated classroom that bridges early childhood and elementary school. Beginning in grade 1, students learn in thoughtfully designed multi-grade classrooms, with grades 1 and 2 together and grades 3 and 4 together. This two-year model allows teachers to know students deeply, support individual growth, and create meaningful opportunities for leadership, collaboration, and peer learning.
With two teachers in every elementary classroom, students receive personalized attention and strong academic guidance. Through hands-on, inquiry-based learning, students strengthen reading, writing, math, science, social studies, Spanish, the arts, and critical thinking while developing empathy, independence, and problem-solving skills.
The Lesley Ellis multi-grade model helps students learn at the right level, not just the grade-level label. Younger students learn from older peers, older students grow as mentors, and teachers build long-term relationships that support both academic and social-emotional growth.
Our elementary curriculum is thoughtfully designed in two-year cycles, introducing new topics each year while reinforcing essential academic skills. Through hands-on, inquiry-based learning, students develop strong critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving abilities. Teachers spark imagination, encourage exploration, and support both independent and collaborative learning, helping children discover connections across subjects and experiences.
Kindergarten
Kindergarten
Every year is a big year in the elementary grades, but in many ways, kindergarten is an especially pivotal year in a child’s educational journey. Building on their earliest childhood experiences, kindergartners continue to learn through meaningful, hands-on projects, as they are introduced to a more structured day with regularly scheduled learning activities.
Grades 1 and 2
Grades 1 and 2
First and second graders at Lesley Ellis School are energized by the process of becoming competent, engaged readers and writers. Their developing understanding of the value of money becomes concrete when they open a virtual restaurant in their classroom. Growing plants for the school garden, singing in the lower elementary chorus, cooking empanadas in Spanish class, designing and testing a robotic vehicle…our first and second grade classrooms become microcosms of the real world and make learning engaging, meaningful, and fun.
Grades 3 and 4
Grades 3 and 4
Third and fourth grade students are beginning to assert their independence and leadership skills. Students play an important role in creating stimulating and respectful classroom communities by sharing ideas and opinions, learning mediation skills, and working collaboratively on research projects. Students perfect their reading and writing skills through writing workshops, poetry studies, and small reading groups. The curriculum offers increasing opportunities for self-discovery and expression, evident in the weekly dedicated arts block.