Academics at High Meadows

High Meadows Curriculum

A Unique & Unmatched Model of Excellence

At High Meadows, we believe that children possess a drive for cognitive, physical, and social engagement - a drive that is developed and enhanced by an environment that promotes academic challenge, creativity, personal responsibility, and a positive self-image. For over 35 years, we have provided a developmentally appropriate curriculum, which nurtures skills and accomplishment in the areas of math, problem solving, critical thinking, literacy, social studies, science, environmental science, and the arts. It's an extraordinary environment that encourages a lifelong love of learning.

Some of the hallmarks of our approach and curriculum include:

Multi-age Education

The multi-age model provides children with the valuable experience of learning with the same group over two or more years. Multi-age classrooms define children by their abilities rather than their numerical age. Over the years, we have implemented various multi-grade groupings, although all classrooms are treated a multi-age since children in the same grade can still be more than a full year apart in age. Eighth grade is a stand-alone year because it helps us prepare our graduates to transition into a variety of different high school environments. Current multi-grade groupings are: Primary (1st and 2nd grade); Elementary (4th and 5th grade) and Middle Years (6th and 7th grade).

IB/PYP Programme: View information regarding our IB/PYP Programme

Co-Teaching & Low Student-Teacher Ratios

In High Meadows School's co-teaching model, when a classroom has two teachers, one is not the "lead," while the other is the "assistant." All teachers are lead teachers here; everyone participates in planning and implementing curriculum and assessing student achievement. In the Middle Years program, content experts teach courses, but students develop relationships with a consistent group of teachers throughout their 6th, 7th, and 8th grade experience.

Authentic Assessment

Our authentic assessment methods give teachers, students and parents common points of reference to guide the continued progress – both on an individual and a whole-class basis. This information is noted and shared with parents in both formal and informal methods, including:

  • Extensive narrative reports, written and shared with parents two times a year
  • Progress reports, which provide interim communication opportunities between parents and teachers
  • Standardized testing, which allows the achievements of High Meadows students to be viewed in context with students nationwide
  • Ongoing PYP-based portfolios of students work throughout their years at High Meadows are maintained and shared with parents during conferences, highlighting the student’s progress throughout the year, and from year to year