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Welcome to the Lower School
Powered by Students’ Questions and Perspectives
In the constant focus on “what comes next” in life, it’s easy to forget how brief and precious childhood is. King School sets a better standard by creating an environment that elevates wonder, creativity, and joy.
Our youngest students’ curiosity is maximized because we honor their questions and consider their perspectives as we build strong educational foundations. Students get more from their education because they feel inspired and delighted every day. As a result they develop the confidence and accountability to discover and explore.
A Better Standard for Lower School
When young children are encouraged to ask questions and make their own discoveries, they become good listeners and critical thinkers who gain the confidence to take on challenges and seize unlimited possibilities. As one of Stamford’s top-rate private elementary schools, King School’s program is an interactive, hands-on experience that nurtures a love of learning and working with others.
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Early Childhood
PreKindergarten and Kindergarten
King's young learners, starting at age 3, experience education as a path of discovery, understanding, wonder, and joy. These ideas are grounded in our Reggio-Emilia inspired, project-based teaching and learning program.
Elementary School
Grades 1-5
King's young children are encouraged to ask questions and make their own discoveries. King School’s Grade 1–5 program is an interactive, hands-on experience that nurtures a love of learning and working with others.
Lower School Global Studies Program
The Global Studies program was an eight-day adventure across Central and South America. The three phases of the program allowed students to conduct research on a select country and choose where they wanted to dive deeply into their learning. In the final phase, students built conceptual understanding through art, media, 3D models, and writing.
Learn more about Lower School: PreK-Grade 5
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about Singular Motivation
“We created the Grade 4 probability carnival for the younger students. Even though they were having fun, we were actually teaching them math!”
— Gracie H., Lower School student
“King encourages me to follow my passions. I like STEM activities. We get to make our own objects that solve the problem that needs to be solved.”
— Varun B., Lower School student
“In Science, we were real inventors, creating our own inventions to help us solve a problem. In Math, we learned about economics by creating a marketplace and selling a product to our classmates.”
— Tim D., Lower School student
Meet our Community
Lower School in Action
As part of King's global education initiative, grade 5 students have been exploring Morocco. Students were introduced to various resources such as books, articles, videos, and photos to begin developing an understanding of the North African country's rich cultural heritage.
Prekindergarten students are budding entrepreneurs at King School. As part of imagining and creating a restaurant, they researched their questions: "What kinds of restaurants are there?, Where do they get their food?, and Who works at a restaurant?"
"What I like most is that we can pick a topic that we want to learn more about," says Alivia Posta. "When our class started studying ancient China, the first thing that came to mind was their art. I made a connection because I love art and Chinese civilization was one of the first places to make art and pottery," she reports.
Guided by their teacher, Ellen Eagleton, grade 3 students are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about and empathetic to social issues in the world. Adom Bedu-Addo is inspired by César Chávez because "people would still be treated like slaves on farms" without Chávez's advocacy on behalf of farmworkers. "People can now have freedom, though there is more work to be done to have people treated equally," Adom adds.
How do I express who I am through art? King students in grades 4 and 5 confront this challenge, developing self-expression as well as technical drawing skills. Art and Design Faculty Debbie DePouli reflects that "with the turmoil and uncertainty of our current times, the art studio is a place for students to hone their creativity, while having a safe outlet to process their experiences and emotions."
Curious to learn about nutrition and making good food choices, grade 1 students researched to become familiar with terms such as proteins and carbohydrates and to understand the difference between a fruit and a vegetable. "Eating broccoli and green beans gives you vitamins and eating chicken gives you protein," reported Tyler Oudsema.
"I've been looking forward to being a part of this since pre-K," states grade 5 student Eden Weisel. "We are learning about ancient civilizations. It has been amazing to be able to act out Greek myths and bring these stories to life." Eden plays Demeter, daughter of Persephone. "It is a story about the power of a mother's love for her child," she adds.
Grade 4 student Nikita Gusinski appreciates the camaraderie that takes place in his music class. Lower School students partner with their performing arts teacher Cara Grimaldi to create a new classroom contract each year that supports an inclusive classroom culture.
Students in the Lower School Martial Arts Club learn basic hand strikes, blocks, and kicks as well as the proper stances to perform these techniques. Joey Lener, 4th dan black belt, takes pride in sharing his knowledge with "a new generation of martial artists."