Grade 5

A highlight of 5th grade is an overnight trip to an outdoor education center on the Skungamaug River, which reinforces core curricular themes of community and ecology. Fifth graders practice stewardship by managing the campus-wide recycling program—a leadership role for our oldest Lower School students. Science classes focus on environmental responsibility; the year culminates with students designing and building one-of-a-kind solar-powered ovens using primarily recycled materials.

Social studies classes delve into the early civilizations of Egypt, Greece and the Maya. Students identify cultural values through myths, writing and play performances, and prepare artistic projects based on ancient themes and characters. They explore questions about gender, race and socioeconomic status as factors that inform whose story is told over time as they investigate what the lives of women and people with lower socioeconomic status were like in ancient Egypt and Greece.

In early spring, Kindergartners tap Foote’s sugar maples to learn about making sap into syrup. The unit combines science, math, social studies and language arts, ending with a celebratory sap boil and pancake breakfast.