K-1 Model

Turning Point School's signature kindergarten program gives students the time and environment they need to develop cognitively, socially, and emotionally. It further affords the opportunity to learn in a fashion that best suits individual development, whether that is in small groups and by Montessori methods (in our Primary program) or in larger groups and by strategies suited to sitting at a table (in our K-1 Program).

Kindergarten students in the Primary program have the opportunity to develop leadership skills in a small peer group while learning to take part in a larger class. They are given time to master social skills, and practice making independent choices and making transitions into specialist classes such as music and Spanish. As the oldest students in the classrooms, kindergarteners in this Montessori-based Primary environment exercise leadership naturally. Students who take kindergarten in Primary move on to the K-1 program, entering into the kindergarten section of K-1, where the social skills and leadership experiences from their time in Primary serve as a strong foundation for success.

In K-1, kindergarten students integrate more transitions to specialists and have a longer school day. K-1 students stay with the same teacher for two years (Kindergarten and Level 1), and the K-1 Teaching Team plans curriculum together weekly to ensure that the whole child philosophy is applied to every aspect of the curriculum, and that center-based and experiential learning is prevelant in every K-1 classroom. Level 1 students act as mentors to K students, mixing for social studies on a regular basis, and also recess.