Character

Character Counts at Wakefield

In the Lower School, our focus is on nurturing not only academic excellence but also the development of character. Throughout the year, we introduce our students to the Wakefield Way. Virtues that are not just discussed but embodied to guide students to become individuals who make a positive impact on their community. The Kindness Pledge, recited by our students daily, is one way that these virtues are brought to the forefront.

As leaders of the Lower School, our fifth-graders willingly step into the prestigious role of Honor Guards, where they extend a guiding hand to their younger peers, walking the little ones to class every morning and setting a shining example of Wakefield’s finest in courtesy and citizenship. 

Curiosity

Through Play, Children Learn to Create, Analyze, Measure, and Collaborate

Children learn best through play and exploration. With a curriculum built on experiential learning and transdisciplinary discovery, our students use their senses to construct a deep understanding of the world around them. Blending structured lessons and unstructured playtime, the Lower School provides both academic challenges and room for imagination to flourish. 

With exciting events like The Invention Convention, young inventors showcase their creativity and engineering skills to put their knowledge of levers, pulleys, wheels, and gears into action to create innovative solutions to everyday problems. Alongside their inventions, students are assigned the responsibility of developing blueprints, designing visual presentations, and writing persuasive papers - a comprehensive approach that nurtures well-rounded skills in science, mathematics, art, and composition, exemplifying our school’s commitment to cross-disciplinary learning.

Through initiatives such as the Junior Master Gardener program, JK students embark on sensory explorations, using a variety of fruits and vegetables to create life-sized, plant-based versions of themselves, taste-testing and learning valuable lessons about the significance of balanced nutrition, while our 1st-grade students construct float tests using pumpkins, gourds, nuts, and berries to learn about root systems and plant anatomy.

Our unique learning environments - the STEM labs, the Outdoor Classroom, and our Makerspaces - create intentional and immersive learning experiences that extend across all grade levels. Students are free to explore, build, and reverse engineer - engaging in personal and individual exploration, in a non-competitive and collaborative atmosphere.

Our Outdoor Classroom serves as a dynamic space for students to get their wiggles out during music class, construct stick villages, ascend the “A” framed house built by Middle Schoolers, tend to gardens, and care for butterflies in the butterfly garden, which, in turn, strengthens our profound connection to nature and fosters a love for learning in a liberating environment.

Clear Voices

When We Celebrate Mistakes, the Path to Self-Awareness and Self-Expression is Open

In our Lower School, teachers awaken the curiosity, excitement, and confidence in our students and empower them to effectively communicate these qualities with the world. We fuel the love of learning, ensuring our students are not only prepared for the future but excited to embrace it in their own unique way. In our Lower School, young minds transform into inquisitive and confident individuals, ready to take on the world with zeal and purpose.

Executive functioning skills like note-taking and organization are woven into daily work and projects, equipping our students with the tools to excel in their academic pursuits and in life. Our fourth and fifth graders are taught computer literacy to ensure a successful transition to Middle School and beyond. They each receive their unique Wakefield email addresses and learn the art of proper email etiquette, enabling them to communicate confidently and effectively with their teachers.

During our weekly assemblies, students of all grades get a chance to showcase their talents– singing, telling jokes, or presenting riddles – honing their public speaking skills in a safe space, to confidently present their voices to the community. While our fifth-grade Honor Guards regularly lead these assemblies, refining their leadership abilities.

We encourage students to pursue their passions, ponderings, and curiosity. With an innovative growth mindset, we foster inquiry-based learning, collaboration, self-confidence, and appropriate risk-taking. We believe in making and celebrating mistakes as valuable parts of the learning process, building upon them in a safe, engaging, enriching environment of support and love. Our ultimate goal is to graduate articulate, capable, and ethical students — a process that takes time, but the results of which last a lifetime.