Greenwood Friends School

Greenwood Friends School uses mixed-age groupings to provide each student with opportunities to grow within the context of a community of learners. While individualized instruction is emphasizd, collaboration is highly valued. Students learn to interact with each other respectively and supportively and older students often act as mentors to younger students. From primary grades through Middle School, students are part of flexible groupings in math and language arts, allowing them to progress at a pace which continually challenges students at an individualized level.

Our mixed-aged groups are:

• Pre-Primary:  preschool ages
• Primary: kindergarten to grade 2
• Intermediate/Middle School:  grades 3 to 8
• Middle School students are given the opportunity to conduct a wide variety of independent study projects in science, social studies, and literature. They graduate from Greenwood equipped with well-developed abilities to ask excellent questions, research a wide variety of resources, engage in dialogue and debate, and present findings using innovative media.

Scheduling allows students to benefit from access to more teachers, cooperating teachers, and other support staff, who can customize instruction to meet individual needs. Students may work with teachers within their "team" or move to another team as needed.

Mixed-age instruction makes it easier to support students whose needs are not met in the traditional, one-grade classroom. Students can be encouraged to tackle more advanced levels or given added support when they encounter difficulties.