Northern Light School Lower School Pamphlet (2022-2023)

Fast Facts LOWER SCHOOL PROGRAM AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 15 Students SCHOOL DAY HOURS: 8:20 am - 3:30 pm

About Northern Light School

Northern Light School is an independent, coeducational school serving students in Preschool to 8th grade. Our mission is to provide an empowering education for children from all cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Our small class sizes (capped at 20) ensure that students have the opportunity to practice problem solving, collaboration, and inquiry-based learning, while expressing their knowledge in creative and critical ways.

Northern Light is deeply committed to social justice, and the importance of developing engaged citizens who, in the words of Paolo Freire, “participate in the transformation of their worlds.”

EDUCATING THE WHOLE CHILD SINCE 1989

EXTENDED DAY HOURS: AM Extended Day - 7:00 - 8:00 am PM Extended Day - 3:30 - 6:00 pm HIGHLIGHTS: Athletics Program Signature Field Trips Spanish Program Advisory Gardening Music Program Service Learning and more!

NORTHERN LIGHT SCHOOL 3710 Dorisa Avenue Oakland, CA 94605 510.957.0570 www.northernlightschool.com

NORTHERN LIGHT SCHOOL

Lower School Program Grades K - 5

About the Lower School The Lower School Program offers a curriculum that is relevant to student interests, abilities, and developmental needs at each grade level. Our goals are to foster inquisitiveness, independence, and a love of learning while promoting self-direction, collaboration, and concern for others. Students grow from the challenges of new and progressively more difficult material within a structured and supportive environment. The Lower School curriculum emphasizes the building of a strong foundation in the basic skills in the areas of English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. The academic curriculum is enriched by specialist teachers who provide programs in Music, Spanish, Physical Education, Service Learning, and Technology.

Whole Child Education

When looking at what a Whole Child Education promises, we look beyond seeing education and academia as a tool to train the mind or prepared for life in a chosen field. At Northern Light School, we see a Whole Child Education as a way to empower children to use their intellectual and artistic talents to enrich their lives and the lives of others. We support children in learning how to respond peacefully and how to pursue a life of purpose that is rooted in the discovery of what inspires them to strive for greatness. A Whole Child Education is not just learning about things, but experiencing them within the classroom and in the world outside the school community.