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The School House Private School Long Island, Montessori Structure

The New American School.

The mission of The School House is to build the best Pre-K - 6th grade school in the world combining what we know scientifically works in learning with what we love about traditional American schools. Learning becomes engaging, successful, accomplished and multi-dimensional all at once.

The School House is the Proud Home of the American Emergent Curriculum!

The School House Anywhere Curriculum Program

The School House Anywhere Curriculum Program

Anchor 1

How do we do this?

THE AMERICAN EMERGENT CURRICULUM

Our children...

1

are born ready

 to learn

2

are individual learners

3

deserve dignity & our respect

What We
Know Works In Learning

What We Love About Traditional American Schools

Children learn faster, are more fulfilled, retain concepts more fully and are inspired to build upon things they’ve mastered.

WHAT WE KNOW WORKS IN LEARNING

STRUCTURED WORK CYCLE

PROJECT & PROBLEM BASED LEARNING

ART, NATURE 
& DESIGN STUDIO

CRITICAL THINKING &
GROUP DIALOGUE

INTERDISCIPLINARY STANDARDS

< Click Arrows To Learn More About Each Area >

Montessori Materials on Shelf

STRUCTURED WORK CYCLE

Our structured foundation allows children to master academic skills through tactile engagement and rigor before moving on to the next challenge.  For example, math proficiency is attained by using concrete representations in addition to paper and pencil.  Done in three-year cycles, this ensures a deep understanding without the dreaded gaps in learning. Socratic Quizzes, Rigor, Movement, Stories, and Educator-Based Assessments drive a child's success.  

Project ad Problem
Structured Work Cycle
Anchor 3
Anchor 2
Performance Stage at The School House _ GALLERY_ The School House 2024-03-18 17-13-40.png

SPORTS & MOVEMENT

Play, sports, games and other team-building and individual experiences get blood moving, push oxygen to the brain and open up pathways for academic and emotional success. Our Sports & Movement program covers three areas: Individual Health - i.e. Yoga, meditation, Presidential Fitness; Team Sports - Organized sports create a knowledge base of a variety of sports including baseball, basketball, rugby, soccer etc.; Sportsmanship - The idea that in your life you will lose, win and sometimes call a draw is a life-long skill tied to our overall emotional intelligence.

AN EXAMPLE OF HOW WE IMPLEMENT THE AMERICAN EMERGENT CURRICULUM

How Our Farm Stand Seed-to-Market Program Supports Academic Learning 

Children first design and build their garden.  This includes garden beds, French drains, a chicken coop and places for herbs and fruits.  They will need to understand the seasons, the tilt of the earth, the temperature, soil and nitrogen content as well as ideal times for planting and care of hens.

 

A Food-on-Mars program is simultaneously built indoors for growing food on the off season using just artificial light and water containing specific minerals.  This indoor project is also managed through coding by our 5th and 6th graders.

 

A Farm Stand is built by Learners who start with a model and then work with a carpenter to learn how to build the structure.

 

Once produce is ready for harvest, it is picked weekly by Learners via the School Care Team.  This Team also creates or makes the packaging  required for the harvest.  Basil is replanted for sale, lettuce wrapped in burlap, quiches baked used eggs from the coop are packaged along with flowers in vases and other crafts made by all grades.

 

Learners take turns working the Farm Stand each Thursday, April through December.  They do their own customer service, money management and bagging.  Typically, they make about $1,200 in 2 hours.

Kids Gardening Basil Plants

Math & Measurement

How many seeds are needed? 

How much room do they need to grow?

The dimensions of the garden bed?

How much water do the plants need daily?

Biology

How do they eat & drink? How does the plant make energy? Seed reproduction, the makeup of a seed, how varieties came about...

Time

How many weeks will it take to grow? How much sun exposure does it need?

Patience

From seed > seedling > plants > harvest > marketing > selling

Observation

How have the plants changed?

History 

Learn its origin, how it came to our country / from where, cultural importance, usage in different societies throughout history.

Marketing & Design

Determining packaging, signage, selling points, pricing, market comparisons, selling at farm stand

Language Immersion

Weekly learned foreign language is used throughout lessons to give the language meaning & encourage retention 

HOVER MOUSE OVER IMAGE

Disappointment

Why didn't some of our plants grow?

How can we do things differently?

TEAMWORK

Cooperation, team-building, self-esteem, decisions, organization, goals. 

OTHER AREAS OF THE AEC

KINDNESS

At TSH we focus on the through-line of all religious and spiritual practices: Kindness. More than just a word, Kindness is reflected first and foremost in how the Team interacts with one another. It is embedded in the curriculum each week. It is honed on the Play Yard, where Learners practice (and of course learn from their departures) how to be Kind in a civil society and how to uplift and encourage friends and classmates.

NATURE & BOTANY

We have chickens! And a coop to tend. Our School Yard, nearby Fuches Pond and Crab Meadow offer us numerous opportunities each year to solidify a Learner’s understanding of the natural world. Nature skills, animal care and botany are key components of the AEC. Children master soil preparation, propagation, seasonal planting, pruning, fertilizing and harvesting through our Seed-to-Market program.

SPANISH LANGUAGE

Our goal is to have every child who starts with us in Primary speak fluent Spanish by the time they leave us in late Elementary. Stories in Spanish, practiced greetings on arrival each morning, personal Spanish dictionaries, letters written in Spanish and school-wide labeling in Spanish help us to achieve a bi-lingual student body.

ONGOING TRAINING

The AEC is a dynamic curriculum because human beings - particularly from 0-12 - are themselves dynamic. Educators begin their school year two weeks early in preparation for the AEC and their environments (classrooms) with 80 hours of professional development specific to cycle one, two or three of the curriculum. We also add 20 hours of training and cooperative learning in early January. Most Educators hold a Master’s degree, have completed their AMI certification or are in process and have at minimum 5 years of teaching experience. Training, conferences and other opportunities are offered and paid for by the AEC.

PLAY YARD

Remember good ole fashioned play? The kind with sticks and trees, balls and bikes… that’s part of our mission at TSH. Children have access to swings in our garden, a life-sized chess board, tricycles for our littlest ones, a sand pit, jungle gym (originally invented by Dr. Montessori), slate water practice, a turf and natural field for soccer, football and of course freeze tag.

INTEGRATED TACTILE TECHNOLOGY

As a rule and because our children range in age from 3-12 years old, all of the technology at TSH is tactile. Put simply, this means that children must be able to touch, feel and manipulate the technology in our school. Examples of this are our Augmented Reality Sandbox used to teach topography and geography and our Vertical Grow Walls in our Food on Mars Program where lettuce and strawberries are maintained year-round by Learners who use only artificial light, minerals and water administered by coding to produce food. Mac computers are available in every room for copious on-demand research and PBL planning, but no child is given or encouraged to use an iPad or other device at this age.

PARENT ENRICHMENT

The idea that a school can educate a child without the engagement of parents has long been disproven. Enrichment is intended to bridge the gap between what a child learns in school and their learning environment at home. Each month, The School House welcomes our parent community to workshops that integrate the AEC into everyday living. These workshops are hosted by our Team.

FIELD TRIPS

Once COVID is behind us, TSH will begin our Field Trip Program and coordination with Going Out. Going Out is a process where Elementary II call, plan, schedule and launch their own field trips from start to finish. From museums to the Vanderbilt to local town council meetings and businesses, our children visit, understand and engage in their community. Up next is a weekly visit to the Huntington Recycling Center instead of having trucks simply pick it up.

SCHOOL SPIRIT & SCHOOL CARE

We are proud to be a part of the Northport - East Northport School District! TSH Learners participate in sporting events with our TSH Blue Jays Soccer Team, host Field Day and Spirit Weeks, compete in Spelling, Geography and Math Bees and joyfully participate in our service program with Helping Hands. Additionally, each morning 5 Learners participate in School Care on a rotating basis where they raise the flag, empty recycling bins, paint buildings, clean the coop, weed the garden, check levels in our Food on Mars room, deliver the in-school mail and clean and organize sections of TSH.

A DAY AT TSH

ARRIVAL • DAILY PROVOCATION

ARRIVAL • DAILY PROVOCATION

Children arrive via bus or car in the morning between 8 am and 8:30 am where they are met by their Principal and Educators. Each child either makes their way to the lower level of the school to their lockers or heads directly to their room. Learners begin working as soon as they arrive and while they are waiting for their friends. Because the AEC focuses on personal responsibility, there is no chaos in the morning. Once everyone has arrived, Morning Provocation begins where Learners are presented with a story, a reading or a direction for their day of work and play.

UNINTERRUPTED WORK PERIOD

UNINTERRUPTED WORK PERIOD

The most precious time at TSH, the 3-hour work period is undisturbed. Learners enjoy rigorous work where they master literacy, numeracy, science, geography and art through tactile materials, writing and reading. Educators guide, present and observe during these periods. There is a consistent dialogue between child and Educator. Work Plans are created by the Learners themselves and they responsibly follow through on completion and further inquiry.

LUNCH & PLAY

LUNCH & PLAY

Learners bring a nut-free lunch from home to enjoy in their classroom with friends or enjoy lunch prepared from our garden and by our Parent Community. A one-hour recess lets our Learners run, jump, learn social-emotional pieces, build strength, recharge, be silly, climb, investigate, compete, build friendships and be out in all kinds of weather (we always have outdoor recess down to 28 degrees!). Sleds are provided in winter. We are proudly the longest recess in New York.

THE AEC

THE AEC

Morning work is brought to life through 3 hour uninterrupted work periods. These focus on the interconnectedness of algebra to Greek Literature to Darwin, Slot Canyon Formations, Physics and Ecology. After lunch, Art Studio, Science, Performing Arts, Sports & Movement & lots of Library in addition to an hour-long uninterrupted Afternoon Work Period. Because the AEC is carefully integrated, our Learners attend these specialist classes to broaden their learning experience. If we are studying the American Revolution, they will learn a song from Hamilton within music theory; Art Studio will feature Native American pinch pots when our focus is on tribal history in addition to the clay medium; Sports and Movement includes instruction in Spanish. Giving children the whole picture - the world’s connectivity - and how science, history, culture all fuel one another is essential. Learners also continue their morning work in the afternoons.

Because we run a longer school day during the week, The School House operates on a half-day on Fridays. This allows our Educators to meet once a week to further enhance our productively and integration at TSH. Parents can pick up their Learner for an early weekend at 11:45am or enroll them in Jam Session. As a convenience, TSH has invited professionals from our community to give incredible and sometimes eclectic lessons at our TSH campus such as calligraphy, rocketry, martial arts, piano, guitar, violin, chess, dance, voice, formal language, drawings, mural making, wood working and so much more.

MINDFULNESS • DISMISSAL • FAMILY ENGAGEMENT

MINDFULNESS • DISMISSAL • FAMILY ENGAGEMENT

The day ends with a mindfulness session before our children are picked up, bussed or join us for Aftercare. For Little Ones this involves breathing and centering; for Olders we focus on reflection.  Family Engagement activities in lieu of homework are sent home by our Educators via Learners each Monday. These are family-based projects that enhance our weekly, monthly and seasonal curriculum, give them practice at time management and incorporate research-based projects.

Young Girl with Globe

“I want my children to understand the world, but not just because the world is fascinating and the human mind is curious. I want them to understand it so that they will be positioned to make it a better place.”

― Howard Gardner, Harvard Professor & Educator

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