The Sciences

Science in our elementary schools is used as vehicle to develop life-long learners with the skills and passion to investigate mysteries, solve problems, and use their knowledge and skills to help others and our planet. A life science unit, a physical science unit, and an earth science unit are taught at most grade levels each year.

The inquiry process is used as much as possible. Students are given the opportunity to explore concepts through guided exploration rather than simply being told information. Children are more likely to remember and fully understand concepts that they are able to develop themselves. The understanding of how science inquiry is conducted and how it used to understand the world around us prepares children for many of the challenges they will face in life.

A visit to one of our schools might reveal second graders making observations of the social nature of ants working together to build tunnels in an ant farm; fifth graders dancing the difference between rotation and revolution; kindergarteners peering into our own vernal pool; or students in the New Marlborough and Egremont schools making their own maple syrup from a tree on campus.

Field trips take advantage of our astonishing New England location. Trips to local farms, the Berkshire Botanical Gardens, the Sharon Audubon Sanctuary, the Berkshire Museum, and the Boston Museum of Science are some of the trips that provide concrete and stimulating experiences to reinforce the work done in our classrooms. Additionally, fifth graders have the privilege of attending Nature's Classroom for a week of outdoor environmental education.