Carey Experience
Our Program
Educating the Whole Child
At Carey, we’re educating the whole child. Our goal is to create and foster well-rounded students who are encouraged to excel in areas of academic strength and are supported in broadening skills. There are multiple opportunities for students to expand their interests and explore application in new ways. Character education is another important component of our program and, throughout their years at Carey, students acquire social-emotional, citizenship and leadership skills that move with them beyond 5th grade and into the real world.
Experts in Elementary Education
Research drives all that we do at Carey and two areas of research in particular help define our program and our goals: developing students’ background knowledge and prioritizing skill building. Research has shown that students with wide exposure to content, students who have developed a little bit of knowledge about a lot of different topics, are able to better make connections to new information and ideas that they learn. Additionally, focusing our curriculum around skills not only helps us clearly define what we know our students need to learn in order to prepare for middle school and beyond, it also allows our teachers to creatively drive content based on student and class interest and connect content areas to increase interest and engagement.
We see learning as a trajectory. In preschool, our program is play based where students learn through play. Social emotional learning is woven across our curriculum, preschool through fifth grade, but is at the core of all work in preschool. Over time, academics are compounded with social emotional learning so that by fourth and fifth grade, our students are truly collaborative critical thinkers, able to solve novel academic challenges while also navigating the diverse ideas of others.
Our Faculty
Our faculty know the developmental stages of elementary students. They also understand the needs of diverse learners and create high-quality yet flexible teaching plans to reach all of them. Our teachers are lifelong learners, are reflective, and are current with research and best practices. Professional development opportunities both on-site and off-campus are required and encouraged, and teachers bring their knowledge and experiences back into the classroom to the benefit of our students.
Integration
We know that people learn through making connections, so the more that we can make connections for our students, and teach them to seek out connections for themselves, the more learning will stick. Integration at Carey can be subject driven, like the study of bats in first grade, where our science teacher introduces bats and information about bat habitats, our art teacher gives students the opportunity to create 3D papier mache bats, students learn bat vocabulary in their world language classes and homeroom teachers use books about bats during small group reading instruction. Integration can also be at the skill level. This integration, although at times less obvious to students, is the more important, because when students learn how to apply important skills like inference or multiplicative thinking in science, math, world language, art, and reading, they can truly understand a concept and begin to apply it independently- not bound by a specific content area or setting.
Preschool Experience
Our newly expanded preschool offers Preschool 3s and Pre-Kindergarten programs. We know the importance of providing young learners with an engaging and developmentally appropriate learning environment.
Learning Path
Carey's outstanding elementary education curriculum is research-based and foundational for the developmental of young children. Click the below link to understand the learning goals for each grade level of our program.
Student Life
Since our founding by the Carey family in 1928, students have told us that Carey feels like a second home. We know children learn best when they are happy, feel supported, and can be themselves. That’s why we work hard to create an environment that is nurturing, challenging, inclusive, and fun.