It’s rare that reality meets—or even exceeds—expectations when a large-scale, complex plan is put into action. But that seems to be the case with Fay’s Primary School, which is thriving and continuing to grow as the latest addition to Fay’s program.

The state-of-the-art, “green” building that first captured the community’s imagination on paper nearly five years ago is now alive with students in Pre-Kindergarten through grade two. Classrooms buzz with activity. Small groups of students and teachers cluster on the window seats in the wide hallways to read and chat. The sound of singing streams from the music room, while excited shrieks can be heard from the multipurpose room, where P.E. class is in session. Paper and pencils in hand, children move excitedly from the art/science room out to the courtyard, where they draw and record their observations of the plants they’re tending in the raised garden beds. In the library, children nestle in cozy armchairs to read, while out on the playground, children scale the ramp of the pirate ship for another adventure of the imagination.

When asked if she would change anything about the building now, after “living” in the space for two school years, Anne Bishop pauses to think. It’s a long pause.

“I really can’t think of anything,” she says. “The space is just right for the children and the teachers. If anything, the building is working beautifully for us—and for the whole school—in ways we could never have imagined.”

Where Form Meets Function
Student work graces every hallway of the Primary School: poetry, stories, building plans, sculptures, dioramas. The projects speak to the creativity and effort of the students—and the thoughtful ingenuity of the teachers.

“The best feature of our building is how completely it supports the learning process for all our children, from Pre-K through second grade,” Anne says. “It’s a peaceful, happy space that supports active learning.”

And active learning it is, particularly in Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten. Teachers here implement an inquiry-based approach, where teachers design a curriculum based on student interests and incorporate purposeful lessons in language arts and math.

For the Pre-K last year, that meant a yearlong unit on pets that included hands-on research and culminated in the adoption of a gecko as a class pet. This year, Pre-K children became woodworking experts through a tool inquiry, while kindergarten students observed the life cycle of butterflies with a classroom butterfly tent and explored the properties of water with experiments on absorption and buoyancy.

“What looks to the casual eye like a lot of playing in Pre-K and K is actually tremendous skill development,” says Anne. “The children are certainly developing social skills, but there is an amazing amount of literacy and numeracy in everything the children do.”

Harnessing the children’s passions reaps tremendous rewards in terms of the students’ level of interest and commitment, Anne adds. She sees this engagement first-hand on a regular basis, as she joins the kindergarten teaching team three times a week to conduct small reading groups. There were six groups this year, led by the four kindergarten teachers, Anne, and reading specialist Joan Knox—which meant that the children benefitted from a nearly 5:1 student-teacher ratio for reading instruction. With this format, Anne says, teachers could tailor activities to the children’s needs and select material to spark each group’s interest.

Anne loved incorporating both skills and enrichment when she met with her group. “We did a unit on famous artists,” she explains. “Our librarian, Erin McNally, helped us select books about artists that were leveled appropriately for the children. So while they were developing decoding and comprehension skills, they were also learning about the contributions of artists like Van Gogh and Monet.”

A Rich Program
The academic program, like the building, has also exceeded expectations in terms of its depth and breadth. Art, science, music, physical education, and world languages round out every student’s experience beginning in Pre-K.

From the beginning, Fay has taken the innovative approach of integrating art and science in the Primary School. Jennifer Telles teaches art and science to every primary student: her classroom on the first floor is a sunny, spacious lab environment adorned with children’s paintings and sculptures.

“Observational skills are at the root of all artistic and scientific endeavors,” Jennifer says, “so it makes perfect sense to bring the two disciplines together at the primary level.”

Primary children also begin their explorations in world languages, with a half-year of instruction each devoted to French and Spanish. Students meet twice each week for music, where music department chair Philip Montgomery uses the Kodály Method, which focuses on giving children opportunities to experience sound and rhythm through folk music and the masterworks.

Seamless Transitions, Thorough Preparation
Are the children ready to move from the inquiry-based approach in Pre-K and K to a more skills-based approach in grades one and two? Absolutely, Anne says.

“As we started the second year of the Primary School with our first group of kindergarten students entering first grade, we observed that the bar was much higher than it had been in previous years,” says Anne. “The children who completed the Pre-K and K programs in our first year were incredibly capable and confident, ready to dive into reading, writing, and math with an excellent tool box of skills.”

First and second graders at Fay take part in a program that continues to be active and hands-on, but that takes advantage of the children’s developmental leaps and increased attention spans to focus on the skills of reading, writing, and mathematics in more depth.

“Our focus in these grades is to make sure children have solid foundational skills in language arts and math,” says Anne.

Anne has collaborated closely with Lower School division head Lainie Schuster to ensure that the move from second to third grade is another seamless transition. “It’s a very deliberate process,” Anne says, “that includes meetings with the second grade teachers, informational meetings for the parents, and multiple visits to the third grade classroom for the second graders, to make sure that students start the next school year feeling confident and well prepared.”

Continuing Growth
One of the best aspects of the Primary School, says Anne, is that the program continues to evolve as teachers develop innovative ways to build students’ skills. “There are so many organic opportunities for collaboration and growth,” she says, citing as an example the Pre-K birdhouse building project, which brought together good ideas from teachers and administrators across the divisions.

What does the future hold for the Primary School? Inspired by the birdhouse project, Anne is excited about plans for an “outdoor classroom” that will benefit not only the primary students, but the entire community. And that’s just the start: what Anne knows for sure is that with a strong program in place and the energy and dedication of the faculty, anything is possible.