Our school is built on a commitment to teaching children as individuals, and that commitment influences the curriculum, the teachers we hire, the daily schedule and even the classroom layout. You will see a variety of work areas, activity centers, tables for collaboration, nooks, crannies, and lofts for individual pursuits. You won’t see teachers at a blackboard—more likely, they are moving through the room. Their day is full of many small but extremely important conversations instead of lectures. At Lesley Ellis, students in our elementary program are with the same teaching team for two years—teachers who have seen them take risks, persevere, make mistakes, and achieve, teachers who know them and their families well.

Respecting the uniqueness of every child means that we must support students’ interests and enthusiasms, while ensuring that they have the skills to pursue these interests. This is what lies behind our focus on mathematics, literacy, and scientific thinking. This is what drives us to build a rich and diverse library and make time for kids to explore its riches. It is why we do not think of art, music, world languages, assemblies, physical education, field trips, and chorus as extras—they are essentials that engage children in the life of the school and the joys of learning.

Teaching children as individuals also means creating a community that respects individuality and differences. I am especially proud of this aspect of our school and the creativity our teachers have shown in building this area of our program. We help kids internalize skills of resolving differences. We support children’s friendships. We provide children with opportunities for leadership. And our homegrown anti-bias curriculum has been recognized by the National Association of Independent Schools with a prestigious Leading Edge award.

But most of all when a school is about educating individuals, when children are known and deeply understood by their teachers, learning becomes something truly extraordinary. This is how to preserve and reinforce not only children’s natural curiosity and love for learning, but also their natural sense of compassion and kindness in dealing with others. It is how best to help children develop confidence and competence in themselves as learners. It is what gives them the inner resources as students and as members of a community to go far and do well.

Independent schools sometimes have the reputation for being elitist and aloof from the community. That is not the kind of school we are. We think of ourselves as a private school with a public mission. Our teachers have been sharing our anti-bias curriculum with other schools. And we have opened up our facility for community meetings and parent education events. We also set our tuition rate lower than those of our peer schools and have a generous financial aid program to ensure economic diversity.

I welcome you to explore our website and urge you to visit our school where you will see our commitment to teaching children as individuals brought to life.

Warmly,

Deanne Benson, Head of School