For the Good of the Whole Community

Lowell’s buddy program sparks lasting connections and pride in learning

Community is at the heart of the Lowell experience, and the school’s new cross-divisional buddy program is building relationships that help students learn from one another and grow together.

In the fall of 2022, with the emergency safety measures of the pandemic largely behind us, Lowell’s three division leaders—Nathalie in the Pre-Primary School, Justin in the Primary School, and Kavan in the Middle School—put their heads together to develop a buddy program that would encourage collaboration between grades, build long-term mentor connections, and inspire students to become leaders for their community.

Buddy groups met once a month in different venues, like the dance studio, the Berkeley library, or the Pre-Primary playground. Eighth graders were paired with 3rd graders, 7th graders with 2nd graders, 6th with 1st, 5th with Kindergarten, and 4th with Pre-Primary friends. These pairings will continue in the coming years, allowing students to stick with their buddies as they progress through each grade level. All three directors agree this was an essential piece of the program’s design, allowing time and space for deep relationships to grow naturally. After 8th-grade buddies graduate, rising 4th graders are introduced to a brand new class of Pre-Primary students and transition from mentee to mentor.

At first, some students were wary of each other and stuck close to peers in their class. However, “get to know you” games like human bingo and scavenger hunts around Parkside soon put new friends at ease. By mid-year, you could count on seeing big hugs when buddies got together, as well as an eager exchange of news, like when a 1st grader couldn’t wait to show her 6th-grade buddy the empty spot in her smile where a baby tooth once resided.

“For me, success started super small,” recalls Justin. “A few times, I saw younger students running up to a buddy and saying, ‘That’s my friend,’ where they wouldn’t have made that connection before. Even the simple act of knowing each other’s names helps us recognize we’re all part of the same community.”

The division directors expect these connections to help with transitions, too. Pre-Primary School students will recognize the friendly faces of the “big kids” when they are the newest Kindergarteners, easing some of their anxiety in a year filled with unknowns and new routines. Primary schoolers can count on a fist bump or greeting from Middle School buddies when they enter Parkside for music class with Charmaine or science with Adrienne, making the building a welcoming space before they even reach 6th grade.

One of the benefits of Lowell’s Pre-K through 8th-grade model is the empowerment students develop over time. Middle schoolers feel safer and perform better academically when they recognize they are leaders among the student body, and this feeling is intensified through individual relationships, like those carefully curated by classroom teachers in the buddy program.

“I think the benefit for younger and older students is the same,” continues Justin. “You’re part of a culture of belonging, sharing connectedness both within a larger group like your whole grade, but then also having either a care-taking or mentee role. Certain values that we share as a community are modeled for the younger students. And then, when they’re older, they can share what they learned from their experience with the newer generation. There’s so much value.”

Justin also sees the pairings as a lesson for older students in personal responsibility and selflessness, especially for those who may be in a caretaker role for the first time ever. Students as young as 4th grade are being asked to think about how they socialize when they’re together versus when they’re with younger students. “Can you take all that’s great about the way you interact and shift it because you’re going sure the environment works for them too?” Justin wonders. “This is a good lesson for life: sometimes you have to change your state of being for the good of the whole community.”

Kavan echoes Justin’s observations. “Middle schoolers are still kids with different levels of maturity, but they really know how to show up for the younger students. That’s what’s great about Lowell kids; they have this empathy in their DNA. It’s really beautiful to see.” One of his favorite examples was the 8th grader who learned that his buddy loved Spiderman; the very next buddy meeting, he showed up in a head-to-toe Spiderman suit to further strengthen their connection.

Buddies played together, sang together, and created together. They met their future teachers and got to know their classmates’ siblings. Older students’ eyes lit up as a spark of memory came rushing back from a familiar lesson, art project, or Lowell tradition. In a particularly charming episode, one of Nathalie’s favorites, students in the Explorers classroom taught 4th graders the procedures for boarding the imaginary airline in their dramatic play area—the big kids were eager to play along! “I saw the older kids coming were enjoying so much playing with the same things they had at a younger age,” says Nathalie.

Students in the Explorers classroom taught 4th graders the procedures for boarding the imaginary airline in their dramatic play area.

Together, buddies took on big ideas, like illustrating what different principles of the Black Lives Matter movement mean and walking side-by-side during the Social Justice Day Peace March. Notably, students took pride in their learning.

“The upper Primary School kids felt empowered to guide the younger students through the activities or even show them what they’re learning and what their Lowell journey has been like. At the same time, I could see the little ones were very proud to give tours of their classroom or demonstrate their work to the older students,” says Kavan.

Nathalie overheard a 4th grader commenting to classmates how they were learning different things, including math, just by playing and building and doing with their young friends. “By participating, they started to understand this concept of learning in different ways in PP,” she says. “Students relate to each other. It doesn’t matter in what grade—there is a sense of community.”

A student-pairing program like this is something Lowell has long desired to see in place. Kavan recalls that some of the initial inspiration came from seeing a buddy model at work in K–12 schools in Finland: “I always imagined having the younger students cheer on and celebrate the graduates of the school and imagine themselves there one day. We saw that this spring when some 3rd-grade families came to graduation this year to see their buddies graduate. They built that sense of connection.”

Even before the ceremony, 3rd graders surprised their 8th-grade buddies during a long week of graduation rehearsals. The younger friends descended on the front field with handmade cards expressing how much their buddy relationship meant to them. As the students exchanged cards and big hugs, Kavan was struck by the importance of marking a special moment together. Third graders chose to recognize and celebrate the achievement of the 8th graders, who in turn gained a greater understanding of the legacy they leave behind.

With a successful first year under their belts, the division directors continue to engage teachers in brainstorming sessions around improved schedules, new buddy activities, in their discipline. Pre-Primary teachers are thinking about how 4th-grade buddies’ knowledge of Indigenous values and practices can be shared with Pre-Primary students as they discover planting, water, and a respect for nature.

Buddy time has already inspired other cross-divisional moments, like the 8th-grade bands performing at a Primary School gathering and the 4-year-old groups in Pre-Primary visiting Kindergarten classrooms. Says Nathalie of the experience, “It was nice for our PP kids to see the classroom upstairs and understand what they have to do in the future.”

Kavan remembers, “During a leadership retreat this summer, Nathalie, Justin, and I were asked to name one of the most successful things that happened last year. All three of us said buddy groups!” In time, they hope to see 4th graders as excited about Stone Soup day as their Pre-Primary buddies, Primary School students pumped up for a big Middle School basketball tournament, and spontaneous “buddy time” even beyond the designated hours of the school day. But, it’s clear that the program is already off to a great start.