Enhancing Academic Programming and Student Opportunities
For the 2025–2026 academic year, we have significantly enhanced the academic programming and student opportunities at Little School, with a focus on deeper personalization, elevated instruction, and early leadership development.
Highlights include the strategic expansion of our Student Success Team and the integration of a Morrow House math specialist to enhance differentiated math and literacy instruction across first through fourth grades. We successfully launched the new Fourth Grade Leadership Symposium, guided by Head of School Marek Beck, Ph.D., to foster critical thinking and self-awareness in our oldest students. Furthermore, a new social studies curriculum was implemented in fourth grade, science instructional minutes were increased, and the highly successful after-school Math League Academy was launched, engaging nearly half of our eligible students. These initiatives underscore our commitment to providing a transformative, personalized, and robust foundation for all Little School students.
Math And Literacy: Elevated and Differentiated Learning
Little School has doubled down on literacy and expanding differentiation in flexible math groupings across first through fourth grades.
Elevated Math Instruction
We have strategically included a dedicated math teacher from Morrow House (grades 5–8) to elevate and accelerate learning in third and fourth grades. We are excited to see the impact of this personalized, cross-divisional collaboration.
Expanded Student Success Team
Little School has expanded its Student Success Team to include an additional learning specialist, providing comprehensive support and enhancing literacy instruction at all levels.
50% Increase
in instructional minutes for science this year.
Little School has increased instructional minutes for science in the third and fourth grades by 50%, to 135 instructional minutes per week.
Leadership and Student Agency
Little School fosters leadership development through key initiatives, including a symposium for fourth graders and opportunities for students to launch their own clubs.
Fourth Grade Leadership Symposium with Dr. Beck
In this exciting new Leadership Symposium for fourth graders, taught by Head of School Marek Beck, Ph.D., students gain an understanding of the essence of leadership. They discuss influential figures, collaboratively identify essential leadership qualities, and are challenged by Dr. Beck to look inward and recognize these qualities within themselves, thereby cultivating critical thinking and self-awareness to empower their own leadership development.
Student-Created Clubs
Little School promotes early leadership development by enabling students as young as first grade to spearhead the creation of interest-based clubs open to all students. This initiative teaches them the full process of launching an idea, including meeting with the Head of Lower School Amelia Gold, identifying an advisor and location, and successfully “selling” their club concept to their peers.
17 Years
of participation in the Carnegie Hall Musical Explorers program.
We are celebrating the 17th consecutive year of our second graders participating in the Musical Explorers program at Carnegie Hall, which introduces students to diverse musical communities and genres from around the world, such as Bomba and Plena, Indian Classical, Cumbia, and Gullah Music.
Curriculum Development
Little School has prioritized curriculum development this year with significant updates in social studies and science instruction.
A New Social Studies Collaboration
To increase the synergy between the third and fourth grades, we have launched a new fourth-grade social studies curriculum in collaboration with InspireEd. The curriculum focuses on migration and movement, the 20th-century American Civil Rights Movement, and in-depth learning about New Jersey and the surrounding region.
Enhancing Environmental Science Instruction
We have significantly expanded our environmental science and gardening curriculum to include students across all four grades, now engaging students from first through fourth grade in regular, hands-on learning experiences. This is a substantial enhancement, moving beyond the previous program that primarily focused on first grade and only occasionally reached older students.
Science Curriculum Alignment and Elevation
The science faculty is actively collaborating with Jacklyn Beck, a master educator specializing in instructional coaching and curriculum development, to align and elevate the entire science curriculum at Little School, ensuring a cohesive experience throughout the entire curricular arc.
1 of a select 100
tri-state area teachers accepted to the Carnegie Hall Music Educators Workshop Program.
Emily Spaeth has been accepted into the highly competitive Carnegie Hall Music Educators Workshop Program for the fifth consecutive year — a program that selects only 100 teachers from the entire tri-state area annually.
From Classroom Connections to Enrichment Beyond
Special Event Highlight: Family Visiting Days
This year’s Family Visiting Days were redesigned to showcase our personalized approach to mathematics. To discuss the impact of personalized learning, families were invited to connect with key school leaders. Families then visited their child’s flexible math group to experience the inspirational teaching firsthand. The experience culminated in a discussion with the leadership team and faculty, during which Dr. Silverstein shared the impact of the Little School experience on our students’ journey to Morrow House, high school, and beyond.
Auxiliary Program Launch
In collaboration with Auxiliary Programs, Little School launched the Math League Academy. This club, for students in second through fourth grades who wish to further improve and accelerate their math learning, as well as compete in the Continental Math League (CML), meets after school.
Currently, the Math League Academy engages almost half of each grade level.
2025–2026 State of the School Reports: Chilton House (age 2–K), Little School (grades 1–4), Morrow House (grades 5–8), Advancement, Auxiliary Programs, Communications and Marketing, Community Life, Enrollment, Facilities and Operations, and Finances.
