PolyAcademics

LOWER SCHOOL

WELCOME! Our Preliminary Application for 2024-25 Is Now Closed

FALLING
IN LOVE
WITH LEARNING

Each morning, teachers and the Head of Lower School greet students who arrive by bus, scooter, or on foot at our beautiful Lower School building, steps away from Prospect Park. They enter a landmark building whose beautiful hallways, stained glass windows, and sculpted wooden staircase are brought to life by their voices, their questions, their dances, their musical renditions, their art, by everything they are and all the energy they bring to learning.

We are a community of learners and, together, we create the Poly experience.

At the Lower School, that experience is tailored to children’s innate curiosity, developmental needs, and creative impulses. Our teachers collaborate to produce engaging lessons that nurture inquisitiveness, intellectual courage, and empathy. Our deans promote state-of-the art programs to support curriculum development and social-emotional learning, and our energetic Parents’ Association helps facilitate classroom events, field trips, celebrations of diversity, and conversations about parenting practices.

LS overview educational philosophy

Educational Philosophy

Our whole-child educational philosophy derives from our commitment to diversity—of individuals, viewpoints, experiences—and the intellectual and moral excellence that it generates. Poly’s Lower School curriculum nurtures and extends students’ natural curiosity, engages them in the challenges and joys of problem solving, and motivates them to acquire the knowledge and habits of mind necessary to become agents of change in their communities, our country, and the world.

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EXPLORE THE CURRICULUM

Poly Students

Students

Dylan D. ’34

Dylan D. ’34  is great at fostering community among her classmates with her creative storytelling and enthusiasm.

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Students

Caroline M. ’33

Caroline M. ’33 is an excellent, creative student who has discovered that she loves to write and read poems.

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Students

John W. ’32

“John W. ’32 loves P.E. and shows good sportsmanship after each contest.”

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Positively POLY

Discover how Poly’s student-centered approach provides families a partner in social-emotional health, reaching academic goals, and igniting the imagination. We are a community of learners and, together, we create the Poly experience.

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