The Elementary & Middle School
Pre-Kindergarten - Grade 8
Our Campus
The Elementary & Middle School is situated on 9 acres of park-like campus adjacent to the Hominy Creek and Trail.
Our main building offers 5 classrooms with access to the playgrounds from each room, gardens, a full library, and maker space.
The Creative Arts Building is a large multi-purpose space perfect for gross-motor play, assemblies, and creative pursuits such as theatrical presentations onstage!
Inside Our Classrooms
Maximum student/teacher ratio of 9:1 promotes small class sizes, allowing more individual attention to each learner.
Two classroom teachers! Each class has a lead teacher, as well as an assistant teacher.
Our Literacy Specialist works alongside classroom teachers and individual students to support reading and writing goals.
Student Experiences
Two Creative Arts classes per week with our Arts Integration Specialist
Daily Spanish lessons with our Spanish Specialist
Weekly school library visits
Access to our Makerspace classroom
Field Trips and community involvement
School events and programs
Community
Our school emphasizes a strong sense of community, the flexibility of an emergent curriculum, and respect for children as capable beings with an innate desire to learn. We work together with parents and students to support the needs of each student, socially, emotionally, and academically.
We enjoy regular field trips within our local community. Connecting with the greater community provides students opportunities to visit local businesses, public spaces, galleries, museums, and take part in service projects nurturing involved and responsible citizens.
Environment
At our elementary and middle school, the learning environment is carefully crafted to inspire and empower our students. Our classrooms are bright and open, providing ample space for both independent work and collaborative endeavors. The abundance of natural light encourages focus and creativity.
Tactile materials play a pivotal role in engaging our learners as these resources strengthen understanding and retention. Our teachers work closely with students in small groups, delivering individualized direct instruction that aligns with specific objectives and curriculum standards. This personalized approach ensures that every student receives the support they need to thrive.
Curriculum
At The Atelier School, we utilize both state and national standards, as guidelines for grade level expectations and markers of your child's academic progress. What makes our program unique is how we meet those benchmarks. When hands-on activities are integrated with the students' interests, stronger connections are made and students excel academically.
Arts integration and inquiry-based project learning are cornerstones of our educational philosophy. Through these dynamic approaches, students actively apply and internalize concepts, becoming integral contributors to their own learning journey. As a result, our students acquire not only academic knowledge but also lifelong skills that extend far beyond the classroom walls.
Academics in an Emergent Curriculum
One afternoon at recess, students noticed that acorn caps look like little hats on top of the acorn "heads" and began collecting them in small containers. Their teacher encouraged them to collect as many acorns as they could find, and the children excitedly rush around at their task, getting exercise, strengthening gross and fine motor skills, and improving hand-eye coordination in the process.
The next morning, the teacher introduced a scientific investigation of the acorns for morning work time. The teacher asked a few questions, and then invited other questions from the students, making a list of them on the chalkboard.
"How many acorns did you find?" "What kinds of acorns?" "What did they look like?" "Are they all the same size?"
This lead into a process of acorn data collection (counting, categorizing, measuring length, weight). The students then counted the acorns in groups, and added the groups together to find a sum. They qualitatively described the acorns, and grouped them by appearance. The teacher provided research materials to the students which helped them identify the different acorn species.
Each student then wrote a summary of their research, including both English and Spanish describing words, and created a bar graph to show what they learned about the acorns in their playground. Over the next couple of weeks, the students remained actively engaged in the acorn project, creating a game called "Guess how many acorns are in the jar" for their friends, parents, and other teachers in the school, and creating acorn sculptures of tiny fairies wearing acorn hats.
Our academic programs enrich children's natural curiosity and love of learning with a truly holistic experience. Learning is more meaningful when we interact with materials and engage all of the senses.
Our Daily Schedule
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7:30 am: Early Drop-Off
8:30 am: School Day Begins
8:30-10:00am: Work Time (morning investigation, discussion)
10:00-10:45 am: Outside
10:45 am-12:00 pm: Work Time (focus areas, foreign language)
12:00-12:30 pm: Lunch
12:30-1:30 pm: Mindfulness (yoga practice, journal writing, reading)
1:30-2:30 pm: Personal Choice Work Time
2:30-3:15 pm: Outside
3:15-3:30: End of School Day
3:30-5:30: Extended Pick-Up
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All snacks provided by the Atelier are allergy-friendly.
