Welcome to Presidio Hill School's Lower School, where caring and talented teachers guide students on an exciting journey of discovery.
At all grade levels, the Lower School program is designed to engage students in their own learning. Classroom activities are fun and collaborative and encourage each student's natural curiosity. A project-based curriculum nurtures a love of learning in students and emphasizes the value of exploration and discovery.
Teachers encourage students to explore subjects that interest them. Curriculum is designed to allow students to build and master skills appropriate for their developmental level, and in keeping with established benchmarks. The pages in this part of the website provide examples of featured projects taking place at each grade level, projects that exemplify the hands-on, and integrated curriculum found at Presidio Hill.
The Lower School is comprised of children in Transitional Kindergarten (TK) through fifth grade. There is one section per grade. Transitional Kindergarten enrolls up to 10–12 students; Kindergarten through fifth grade expands to 18–22 students with two teachers. Please explore the grade level, Spanish, and physical education pages in this part of the website for more information about what Presidio Hill has to offer your child. Also, visit the arts section to learn about the music and art programs.
School day
Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and Kindergarten (K)- 9:00am-2:45pm
Grades 1 & 2- 8:30am-2:55pm
Grade 3- 8:30am-3:05pm
Grades 4 & 5- 8:30am-3:10pm
*Wednesday is early dismissal - all dismissal times are 1 hour earlier
Before School Care- 7:45am-9:00am After School Care*- 2:45pm-6:00pm
*There is a fee for after-school care.
**Wednesday is early dismissal - after-school care begins 1 hour earlier
Homework expectations
Research indicates that there is generally a positive correlation between homework and academic achievement. There also seems to be an optimal amount of homework, with both too little and too much having less of an impact.
At Presidio Hill School, we attempt to come as close to that optimal amount as possible. If done properly, homework can be an important part of the learning experience. It expands the learning environment and extends learning time. It creates habits of self-discipline and organization while teaching independence and responsibility. It allows for those students who require more time to complete their work, giving them an opportunity to do their best. It gives students a chance to apply, practice and extend skills learned in class. Homework also offers parents a window into their child’s studies at school and how well he or she has mastered the assigned material.
Homework will begin after the fall holiday in October. First graders have a book-shopping day once a week during Reading Centers, during which they will choose their "just right" books for the week. Each day, the child will select a book to take home to read aloud to a family member. Our goal is for fluency and comprehension; students may choose books they have already decoded and are reading again, or they may choose an unfamiliar book they will read for the first time at home and then read again at school until they read it at an appropriate pace with intonation. Suggestions for comprehension questions and book talk conversations will be added later in the year, and math homework will be sent home occasionally. Some at-home projects include designing homemade Valentine's Day cards and leprechaun traps for St. Patrick's Day.
Second graders are expected to read aloud to an adult at least 15 minutes each day. Every week or so, students may be expected to work on one or two pages of math homework tied to our Investigations Math Program curriculum. Spelling homework provides practice to prepare children for weekly, or, later in the year, bi-monthly spelling tests.
Third graders are expected to read aloud to a family member or to themselves for 20–25 minutes per night. Additionally, third graders average 30 minutes per night working on math, spelling, and a weekly project such as an interview, survey or some other activity related to the thematic unit they are studying in class.
More independence is expected of fourth graders. An average of 45 minutes to one hour, or one class period, is expected nightly. 20–30 minutes of independent or partner reading and 15 minutes of touch-typing occur regularly. In the fall, short-term, one-day assignments are given. More extended projects such as People in Profile take the most time later in the year. At times, students are asked to create their own homework.
Homework in fifth grade will be approximately 25–45 minutes each night, on average, Mondays through Thursdays. It will normally consist of the Investigations Math Program work related to what we’ve looked at in class that day, as well as a combination of social studies, writing, or specified reading material. There will be times when fifth graders will be asked to do some internet research as part of their homework, or will need to type up their writing. Peer editing, partner work, and group projects will also play an integral role in the fifth grade curriculum, and students will be asked to complete portions of their projects from home. In addition to homework assignments, students in fifth grade are asked to read 20–30 minutes per night.
