The  Elementary School

The Elementary School program encompasses the elementary grades through Grade Eight. After they have mastered the introductory skills of the primary years, students are ready for greater academic challenges and more independence.  A devoted Upper School faculty expertly guides our students toward success both in and out of the classroom.

The Upper School continues the use of the Core Knowledge curriculum.  At this stage, student learning is very heavily focused on becoming developing high level reading, writing and maths skills.   Students in the Middle School are encouraged to take risks in the learning process, and are guided by a supportive and caring faculty and staff. 

Lower School
Grades 1-4

Grades One through Five introduce students to reading, writing, and arithmetic, to science, the arts, and to the very nature of school work, the habits of study, and cooperation. From the start students, do a considerable amount of creative writing, including poetry. The essentials of mathematics will be taught with a view toward making every student competent and confident in the use of maths concepts.    Saint Albans' approach to learning is traditional in nature.  We eschew educational fad and fashion.  As an independent school, we reject the idea of "teaching to the test."  Instead, we offer a balanced, rigorous, and traditional curriculum, one that provides students with the knowledge and skills  to make them productive, successful and engaged citizens.

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Middle School
Grades 5-8

Middle School is a time of transition.  As students become more mature, they increase in their ability to be independent thinkers and learners.  The middle school program is designed to encourage students to take responsibility for their education and prepare them for the challenges of high school.  

Caring and experienced teachers guide students toward achieving their educational goals, helping them make good academic choices, develop their own interests, and empower them to embrace learning.  Middle school students are encouraged to develop their own independence by trying new things, exploring new options, seeking new destinations.  In short, we encourage middle school students to look at learning as an adventure with a world of possibilities open to them.  

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Enrichment

Our academic program is supplemented by a variety of enrichment programs in music, theater, and the arts.   In addition, Saint Albans' location in midtown Manhattan allows us to make New York part of the classroom.  Throughout the year, students make frequent visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Natural History Museum, the Museum of Math, the Tenement Museum, the New York Philharmonic, the Morgan Library, the New-York Historical Society, the Guggenheim, and other cultural institutions in an effort to supplement the in-class curriculum with opportunities for hands-on learning. 

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