Lower School (Grades K-4)

The lower school curriculum is thoughtfully sequenced and integrated both within each grade level and from one grade to the next. Language arts, mathematics, and social studies are taught in the homeroom. Science, Spanish, visual art, music, physical education, library, technology, and wellness classes are taught by specialists in classrooms designed for those subjects. Curricular connections are made across subject areas when there is a natural overlap of skills, content, or concepts.

Lower school students benefit from the full range of Maret’s K–12 campus facilities, including a playground, two libraries (one designated for the Lower School), two fully equipped gymnasiums, a theater, a movement studio, a lower school computer lab, and a cafeteria. Teachers take advantage of Maret’s location in Washington, DC; field trips throughout this historically significant and culturally diverse city, as well as to surrounding locations in Maryland and Virginia, enhance the students’ learning experience.

Maret welcomes children with a range of abilities and interests. The small size of the lower school classes helps teachers support children at different stages of development. A lower school learning/reading specialist and a part-time math specialist provide additional support for students and faculty.

Whether it’s an annual tradition, demonstration of academic or artistic achievement, an activity focused on community service, or a “just-for-fun” celebration, children develop confidence and deepen connections through the Lower School’s many special events and activities. Some celebrations are class-specific while others span several grades, perhaps including parents and special friends. Recent lower school special events have included:
• Biographical Character Day
• Concerts
• Environmental Spirit Week
• Fictional Character Day
• Fun Run
• Grade 4 Greek Play
• Grade 4 Camping Trip
• Grandparents and Special Friends Day
• Intensive Study Week
• Martha’s Table Partnership
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
• Pajama Day—A Celebration of Reading
• Publishing Party
• Pumpkin Parade and Grade 8 Carnival
• ROY G BIV Week
• Science Week

All lower school students write daily. They are encouraged to view writing as a process, learning to plan, execute, critique, and revise writing in a variety of genres, while developing their own unique written “voice.” Children’s poems, essays, and stories adorn the walls of the Lower School. All lower school students take pride in the culminating activity, the annual Publishing Party, where they present bound copies of their writing to parents and other visitors.

Upper school students work hand-in-hand with first graders to construct a shad fish hatchery, monitor water quality of the hatchery, and care for and release shad fry into a local river. As upper school students help first graders to understand water-testing procedures, the younger students become more comfortable with collecting and recording meaningful data. This project allows students who may not feel confident in science to explore what field scientists do on a daily basis, as well as apply the concepts learned in the classroom.

Lower schoolers practice the important social skills of conversation, good manners, and respectfulness. Children are asked to offer reasons for being grateful, such as the joy of family, veterans who protect our country, or friends who make them laugh. These special moments promote deeper thinking, a sense of gratitude, patience, and the art of public speaking. Maret’s cafeteria staff serve healthy, tasty food and, although third and fourth graders have the responsibility of clearing tables, diners of all ages pitch in to make sure the floor and surfaces of their immediate area are clean.

Maret’s After School program offers a welcoming environment where children from kindergarten through eighth grade can relax and unwind. It’s a safe, comfortable, low-key option for families who are unable to pick up their children at the regular dismissal time.

Lower School Activities

After School offers supervised free time along with structured activities: playground games, arts and crafts, story time, board games and more. Lower School Clubs are also open to After School students. Examples of current after school activities are:

Book Club
Chess Club
Codemoji
Creative Writing
Culture Club
Floor Hockey
French Club
Gymnastics
Little Medical School
Mad Science
National Geographic Bee
Tiny Chefs

Study Hall

After School students in grades 3-8 participate in required hour-long study hall Monday –Thursday, run by After School staff. Adults provide homework assistance, helping students get a jump on the evening’s projects and assignments.

When the NATION'S CAPITAL is your campus, the opportunity for enrichment is endless! Maret’s lower school students enjoy exploring the city and beyond. Recent excursions have included:

• A Wider Circle
• Adventure Theater
• Alexandria Archaeology
• Anacostia River boat trip
• Black Hills Regional Park
• Brookside Gardens
• Discovery Theater
• Lincoln’s Cottage
• Mt. Pleasant Library
• National Portrait Gallery
• Newseum
• Rock Hill Orchards
• Sandy Point State Park
• Smithsonian Air and Space Museum
• Smithsonian American Art Museum
• Sugarloaf Mountain
• The National Building Museum

A longstanding Maret tradition, the Pumpkin Parade is held every October – an opportunity for our lower schoolers to parade in full costume to the delight of faculty, parents, and grandparents. Lower schoolers are also treated to a lively carnival put on by our Middle School.