Overview

The education offered at Pine Cobble is rooted within a child’s development as they navigate both their sense of self and intellectual interests while growing and learning as a community. Serving ages 2.9 to 14 years-old, the academics at Pine Cobble are spread across four different divisions.

• Early Childhood: Beginners – Kindergarten
• Lower School: Grades 1 – 3
• Intermediate School: Grades 4 – 6
• Upper School: Grades 7 – 8

With such a wide range of ages on campus, faculty have the unique opportunity of facilitating both social and educational connections across grade levels. At a student-faculty ratio of 4:1, Pine Cobble students benefit from a bevy of personalized academic experiences.

As a student and member of the Pine Cobble community, children are exposed to:

• Social, academic, and athletic collaboration at every grade level
  • Students are assigned to different cross grade Buddy Groups each year for community based activities, projects, and shared learning
  • Small class sizes allow students to build both meaningful peer-to-peer and peer-to-faculty relationships
  • Our sports program encourages fitness, physical awareness, and healthy competition among peers

• Exploration of self and nature
  • Early Childhood students (Beginners – Kindergarten) make use of the 18+ acre campus by participating in weekly hikes throughout all seasons, variations of weather, and conditions
  • Students reflect on their learning and applying their academic skills through play– group, peer-to-peer, parallel, and individual– while engaging with one another outdoors on both the playground and woodland trail
    

• An expansive, inclusive, and thorough Language Arts program
  • Kindergarten through Grade 6 instruct reading and writing with Wit + Wisdom, a comprehensive curriculum designed to enhance the acquisition of skills, knowledge, and understanding through multitiered application
  • Texts, assignments, research, and discussions geared towards developing an appreciation for varied perspectives while establishing a sense of equity
  • An annual Author Night to encourage confidence in creative self expression through the written word
    

• A dynamic and interactive Mathematics program
  • Kindergarten through Grade 6 develop number sense, computational skills, and abstract thinking through Illustrative Mathematics, a curriculum rooted in real-world problem solving with the intent of elevating conceptual thinking to concrete via a concentration on depth of knowledge as opposed to expansion of scope
  • Tools and manipulatives to elevate student understanding of mathematical concepts
  • Rigorous preparation within the Upper School for secondary placement math courses
    

• History through the lens of geography, culture, and difference
  • With a focus on western civilization, students navigate the world in relation to their own understandings alongside a conscious effort to widen their scope of knowledge in regards to marginalized people and their stories
    

• Inquiry based problem solving through both STEAM and Science
  • Students between Grades 1 and 5 engage in a robust STEAM program fueled by Mystery Science, a resource that introduces students to science standards ahead of entering Upper School with the intent of cultivating curiosity, exploration, and a love for learning
  • Our STEAM program presents students with frequent opportunities to plan, draft, and create in a way that make their learning both visible and real
  • Demonstration of the relationship between fun and learning at Pine Cobble’s annual STEAM Day
  • In preparation for secondary placement, our Upper School Science program prepares students for secondary placement by combining the scientific genres and disciplines of life, earth, and physical sciences
  • Upper School science students periodically present their research, experiments, and findings in school-wide demonstrations for younger students to witness and offer feedback
    

• Language learning as an auditory, verbal, and cultural skill
  • As early as Beginners, students are exposed to the Spanish language through both song and kinesthetic learning in order to enhance both their auditory and linguistic comprehension skills
  • At the Upper School level, students engage in conversation using the Spanish language
  • Throughout their years at Pine Cobble, students learn about the cultures of Spanish speaking peoples
  • An annual celebration of Spanish instruction, its language, and culture on Spanish Day

•  Effective benchmarking and assessments
  • To ensure that students are consistently making academic gains, students periodically participate in the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) 8th Edition, the Writing Assessment Program (WrAP) in English Language Arts, and the Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) in math
  • The data of these benchmarks are combined with other evaluative measures such as classroom teacher observations, in-class work, and reflective narratives to capture a more comprehensive picture of student performance
  • Click here for additional assessment details and scheduling