Lower School

Academics

Where a love of learning begins and never lets go

At Highland, academics aren't one pillar among many. They're the foundation everything else stands on. Since 1928, we've challenged our youngest students with a rigorous, joyful education that turns curiosity into capability.

In the Lower School, Pre-K2 through Grade 4, children don't just learn facts. They learn how to think, question, build, and discover. And they do it alongside teachers who know them, believe in them, and genuinely love what they do.

A rigorous foundation, built for how children actually learn

A strong academic program, tailored to each child's development, is the heart of the Lower School. Traditional classroom instruction works hand in hand with proven, innovative methods so every student stays engaged and challenged.

We've moved well past memorizing random facts for a test. Today, what matters is how children find information and what they can do with it. So we teach our youngest students to think, plan, and figure things out for themselves. We're not just covering curriculum. We're building real thinkers. Our students leave the Lower School curious, confident, and ready for what comes next.

Teachers who care. Teachers who stay

Ask any Highland family what makes the Lower School special, and the answer is almost always the same: the teachers.

Our Lower School faculty has been at Highland for more than 15 years on average, which represents a rare kind of stability in elementary education. That experience matters. These are educators who know how children learn, who recognize a struggle before it becomes a setback, and who shape lessons around the questions, curiosity, and concerns of the students in front of them.

And when a child needs more, our Learning Support specialists are right there. Dedicated learning specialists help identify academic and social challenges early, so every student, and the whole class, stays on track.

This is the relationship parents commit to Highland for. Teachers who don't just instruct, but who truly know and love their students.

Innovative methods that work

We give our teachers room to teach creatively, using approaches that meet children where they are and push them further. Click on the expanding boxes below to read more about a few of the signature methods you'll find across the Lower School:

Meet Our Team

List of 2 members.

Jane Banse

Lower School Director
Megan Hubbard

Assistant to the Lower School Director

List of 5 items.

Project Approach

Great learning happens when students see the purpose behind what they do. The Project Approach channels natural curiosity into structured, real-world investigations that run alongside foundational coursework. By tackling complex questions as collaborators, students build subject mastery and vital character skills.

They learn to analyze thoughtfully, adapt flexibly, and take pride in owning their individual and collective success.
Responsive Classroom

Great learning requires a foundation of trust, respect, and belonging. Throughout our Lower School, we integrate Responsive Classroom principles to build a vibrant classroom culture where every voice matters. Through daily morning gatherings, interactive learning structures, and clear, supportive expectations, students learn to navigate challenges, collaborate across differences, and advocate for themselves.

This intentional approach ensures that as children stretch themselves academically, they develop the social courage and emotional maturity needed to step boldly into every opportunity.
FOSS Curriculum Kits

In Highland’s dedicated Lower School science lab, scientific inquiry comes alive through the hands-on FOSS (Full Option Science System) curriculum. Rather than simply reading about concepts in a textbook, students step into the role of active scientists. They hypothesize, test, and investigate real-world phenomena through interactive, kit-based modules.

Guided by attentive faculty in a specialized lab environment, children explore key disciplines from earth science to physics. This experiential approach encourages young learners to observe closely, analyze data critically, and develop the intellectual courage to ask big questions about the world around them.
LEGO Robotics and Innovation Lab

In Highland’s LEGO Robotics programs and Innovation Lab, curiosity meets real-world application. Children build circuits, design bridges, build and program robots, and even launch rockets. Along the way, they're learning to solve complex problems using imagination, teamwork, and their hands. By transforming classrooms into active design labs, we empower young thinkers to take creative risks, own their projects, and experience the thrill of bringing their ideas to life.
Personalized Learning

Great learning is never one-size-fits-all. From their earliest days at Highland, children benefit from a tailored approach where teachers understand how each student learns best. Starting in 3rd grade, students take the driver's seat through Highland’s Personalized Learning Plan (PLP) program. Partnering closely with their teachers, students explore their own learning profile, set meaningful goals, and actively track their progress. This ongoing dialogue allows students and families to reflect together on growth over time, cultivating confident, self-aware learners who truly own their success.

Classrooms without walls: the village garden and outdoor classroom

Learning at Highland isn't confined to four walls.

Just behind Chilton Village, our Village Garden and Outdoor Classroom gives teachers a living, growing space to extend their lessons outdoors. Children plant, observe, and tend the soil. They watch our Monarch butterfly garden bring classroom science to life. They craft, build, and explore in an environment that makes abstract ideas real.

For a young learner, digging in the soil and discovering a grub for the first time isn't a break from learning. It is the learning. It's hands-on, memorable, and entirely their own.

Raising citizens of the world

We help even our youngest students understand that the world is bigger than their immediate surroundings.

During International Week, Lower School students take part in assemblies that open their eyes to other cultures. They connect with students at our sister school in Kenya. They get to know international exchange students attending our Middle and Upper Schools. Bit by bit, they develop a genuine global awareness and a sense that they belong to a wider community.

That awareness extends to the environment, too. Conservation runs through the Lower School curriculum, from recycling in the classroom to picking up litter around campus to County Conservation Day visits to local farms. Children learn early that caring for their world is part of being a good citizen of it.

A community that gives and shows up

Service and family involvement aren't add-ons here. They're woven into daily life.

Through the Director's Council, students collect food and supplies for local charities like the area food bank, emergency shelter, SPCA, Head Start, and FISH. Along the way, students and faculty talk through the needs they're meeting and personally deliver what they've gathered. Family Service Day each spring, plus initiatives like Dig Pink and Finley's Green Leap Forward, give the whole community even more ways to give back.

Parents are part of the picture every step of the way. Families serve as guest readers at lunch, Parent Buddy readers in class, and partners at STEAM Nights — designing bridges and launching rockets right alongside their children. When parents are involved, learning carries more meaning, and children see that their education matters to the people who matter most.

A building that helps children thrive

Where children learn shapes how they learn, our LEED-certified Lower School was built with that in mind.

This contemporary building is full of natural light, bright colors, and green features that create a healthy, beautiful place to grow. Recycling bins and compost collectors are everywhere, and the compost feeds the school's own gardens, turning the building itself into a daily lesson in conservation. It's a space that's good for the planet and even better for the students inside it.

Why families choose the Lower School

Every great academic journey has to start somewhere. At Highland, it starts here.

This is where a love of learning takes root, where rigor and joy go hand in hand, where curious children become real thinkers, and where experienced teachers form the kind of relationships that follow a child for years. From the first days of Pre-K2 through Grade 4, students discover that there are no limits to what they can achieve, and they make that discovery in the care of people who truly know them.

The foundation matters. And there is no better foundation than this.

See where it all begins

The best way to understand the Lower School is to walk the halls, meet our teachers, and watch our youngest learners at work, be that in the garden, the Innovation Lab, or the classroom. Come visit and imagine your child here for the very first time.