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Readiness
Beginning with our K1 program (age four), the goal of education in the Park Kindergarten is to stimulate the healthy growth of each child's intellectual, social, physical, emotional, and ethical powers.
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Each child is unique
Children learn in different ways and they develop and grow at different rates. The role of Park's teachers is to recognize and encourage each child’s particular strengths, while supporting growth in all areas.
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Positive Expectations
Central to The Park School educational philosophy is the notion that positive expectations produce positive outcomes. Individual student's needs and the latest pedagogical research guide our teachers' approaches.
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Supportive Faculty
Park teachers stand apart because of their great passion for teaching and learning. They truly connect with students, provide insight and guidance, and encourage them to think critically for themselves as they learn by doing.
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A Diversity of Ideas
To fully understand a complex time in history, third graders learn the points of view of colonial settlers, Native Americans, and enslaved Africans through extensive research — including building shelters modeled after those of Eastern Woodland Indians.
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K-12 Partnerships
Upper School student tutors staff and run the Michael Cardin ’85 Writing Center, working with Lower, Middle, and Upper School writers in a variety of settings. Here, a student tutor works with a fourth grader on developing her writing.
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Experiential Learning
Fifth graders construct and use catapults to run experiments in which they collect and analyze data. Science is not just description or information, but inquiry: children try to design experiments that will help them find out what they don’t yet know.
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Inspired Faculty
Current Park teachers have, on average, over 20 years of teaching experience. 75% hold advanced degrees. They publish. They research. They present. They perform. And more.
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Challenge
Appalachian Challenge is Park’s nationally-recognized outdoor education program, originally constructed, maintained, and led by students. Middle Schoolers take Challenge as a P.E. requirement, and many become Challenge Leaders.
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Mind and Body
Park's motto, A Sound Mind in a Sound Body, manifests itself throughout the Middle School curriculum. The eighth grade physical education program is elective-based — allowing students to explore their varied interests, including canoeing on Park's pond.
Topics To Explore
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Inquiry and Thoughtful Analysis
In 9th and 10th Grade, students have the opportunity to put science in the context of real life through authentic inquiry and central, culminating experiences, including studying the digital analysis of motion on Challenge Course initiatives.
Topics To Explore
Ninth Grade
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Innovative Electives
Park's Upper School curriculum provides opportunities for advanced study in every discipline. Elective courses allow students to follow their curiosity, explore topics in depth, and pursue rigorous investigation. Pictured: Acoustics, The Physics of Sound.
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All is Number...
Upper School students can choose from an array of mathematics electives such as Calculus, Advanced Calculus, Advanced Discrete Mathematics, Abstract Algebra, Linear Algebra, and Topology and Knot Theory, and more.
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Authentic Research
Park students raise questions, engage in research, and collaborate with scientists and policy-makers from around the world. Follow the link below to learn more about our students' ongoing permafrost and toxicology studies in the Arctic.
