Lower School

Children sitting at desks in a classroom, engaging in an activity with chalk and a small basket of chalk pieces.

1st Grade

Children come to 1st Grade full of curiosity and are met by teachers who foster the skills necessary to learn, work, and play in an atmosphere of warmth and reverence. Around the age of seven, children reach a milestone as they make the transition to the middle years of childhood or the second seven-year period of development.

1ST GRADE CURRICULUM
Group of children in a classroom, playing and interacting, with a woman in the background.

2nd Grade

The curriculum and experiences in the 2nd Grade year build on the foundation of 1st Grade. Students transition from the experience of one and the whole to duality and comparison. The children enter 2nd Grade with an established relationship with their class teacher.

2ND GRADE CURRICULUM
Children participating in a game of indoor bocce or lawn bowling, with a focus on a boy in a blue shirt and another in a camouflaged green hoodie, in a likely school or community center setting.

3rd Grade

The 3rd Grade curriculum speaks to the consciousness of the child who is turning nine. As this age, the child becomes more self-aware, and there can be a new sense of distance from the joys of early childhood. There might be questions about many things, some of them quite profound. The Waldorf curriculum is meant to reassure, nurture, and help the child move ahead with confidence through this significant threshold.

3RD GRADE CURRICULUM
A young boy in a colorful tie-dye shirt standing in front of a large poster with an outline of a bird, giving two thumbs up and smiling.

4th Grade

4th Grade marks a clear change in the work the students do and what is expected of them. The habits and skills that have been developed are now put to use in tackling new and varied subjects.  Animals are studied in such a way that the children must use their capacities for discernment to recognize and describe the unique qualities of each animal. The children also begin to explore their own environment, making maps and learning about the rich culture and ecosystems that exist in North Carolina.

4TH GRADE CURRICULUM
A classroom with students sitting at desks, raising their hands, and a teacher standing at the front near a colorful map of the United States.

5th Grade

At ten or eleven years old, the 5th Grader can be seen as standing on a fulcrum or a see-saw. One minute they can be looking back, acting like 2nd Graders, playing imaginative games or singing songs they learned years earlier, then the next minute they are acting like moody teenagers, trying on all the vivaciousness and attitudes they have observed in older students. Children start to look at what is coming in the teen years and wonder how they will handle the changes they are beginning to experience in themselves. It is a time for reflection, solidifying foundations and exploring how cultures of the world have grappled with the questions of existence. How did we get here? How should we behave towards the world and each other? How should one conduct themselves honorably? How does one find purpose in life? What happens when we die?

5TH GRADE CURRICULUM

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Lower School Faculty

  • Portrait of a smiling man with light skin, wearing a peach-colored shirt and blue tie, standing outdoors in front of green foliage and trees.

    Brandon Kohn

    1ST GRADE TEACHER

  • A smiling man with light skin, red hair, and a beard is wearing a brown T-shirt with a white collar. He stands outdoors with a background of blurred green trees and foliage.

    Christopher Fryer

    2ND GRADE TEACHER

  • A woman with short curly brown hair, wearing a sleeveless white dress, standing outdoors with a blurred green forest background.

    Viorica Comaniciu

    3RD GRADE TEACHER

  • A woman with dark hair and brown skin smiling outdoors, wearing a floral dress with pink and green flowers, in front of a blurred green forest background.

    LaShawnda Holman

    4TH GRADE TEACHER

  • A man with dark hair, glasses, and a beard, wearing a beige shirt with light blue sea creature patterns, standing outdoors in a lush, green environment.

    Benjamin Trueblood

    5TH GRADE TEACHER

  • A woman with long dark hair, wearing glasses and a dark blue blouse with buttons, smiling outdoors with a blurred green forest background.

    Kris Ritz

    GRADE SCHOOL PEDAGOGICAL SUPPORT

  • A woman smiling outdoors with a blurred background of trees and leaves. She is wearing earrings, a pink short-sleeved top, and a matching skirt.

    Fernanda Brito-Munoz

    SPANISH TEACHER

  • A smiling middle-aged man with gray hair and a beard, wearing a blue button-up shirt, standing outdoors with a blurred green forest background.

    Jason Chlid

    MUSIC TEACHER

  • Portrait of a smiling woman with short, styled hair wearing a sleeveless dark top and earrings, standing outdoors with blurred greenery in the background.

    Kristin McGee

    FARM MANAGER + FARMING & GARDENING TEACHER

  • A woman with long dark hair, glasses, and a dark sleeveless dress standing outdoors with blurred green foliage and trees in the background.

    RongRong Ji

    EURYTHMY TEACHER

  • A young woman with long blonde hair, wearing a colorful scarf, a light blue shirt, and a beige jacket, smiling outdoors with blurred green trees and sunlight in the background.

    Christine Shalda

    HANDWORK TEACHER

  • A woman with long brown hair smiling and wearing a beige sleeveless button-up top with a background of blurred green leaves and trees.

    Jamie Taylor

    MOVEMENT TEACHER

  • A happy yellow retriever puppy sitting on a gravel path outdoors, with grass and fallen leaves in the background.

    Moby

    FACILITY DOG

  • A smiling woman with red hair and freckles, wearing a pink dress and earrings, standing outdoors with a blurred green natural background.

    Jessica Meyer

    EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT COORDINATOR

  • A woman with short, curly brown hair smiling, wearing a black and white patterned blouse, standing outdoors with a blurred natural background.

    Linda Wert

    GRADE SCHOOL COORDINATOR

  • Woman with brown curly hair and earrings smiling outdoors, wearing a sleeveless, striped dress with a tie at the waist.

    Cameron Ratliff

    GRADE SCHOOL ASSISTANT

  • A smiling woman with glasses and long brown wavy hair standing outdoors in front of blurred green trees and foliage.

    Estelle Mandeville

    GRADE SCHOOL AFTER SCHOOL CARE

  • Smiling woman with short gray hair and glasses playing a violin outdoors in a wooded area.

    Barbara McCauley

    AFTER SCHOOL MUSIC