Lower School · JK–Grade 5 · ages 4–11
Where school starts with wonder, not worksheets
The Lower School is built around one conviction: four-to-eleven-year-olds learn best when their hands, feet, and questions are all involved. Reading and math are taught with rigour and warmth — and so are mud, music, and museum-grade curiosity.
- Class size
- 16 students, 2 adults in JK–Grade 1
- Tuition 2026–27
- $26,400 / year*
- Grades
- JK–Grade 5
*Illustrative — see tuition & indexed tuition. This is a sample site.
What Lower School is built on
Four commitments, kept daily
Literacy that sticks
Structured, phonics-first reading in small flexible groups, with a reading specialist embedded in every grade — not summoned when there's a problem.
The Outdoor Classroom
Every Lower School class spends a half-day each week in our four-acre ravine — science, sketching, and stamina in all four seasons.
Two languages from four
Spanish and German begin in junior kindergarten as songs and games, and grow into real conversation by Grade 5.
Specialists, not add-ons
Music, art, library, and PE are taught by dedicated faculty every week — the same adults for years, who watch your child grow.
A day in the life
What a real day here actually looks like
No two days are identical, but here is a truthful Tuesday in Grade 2 — the rhythm a visiting parent would actually see.
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8:15
Arrival & morning greeting
Every child is greeted at the door by name. Coats up, home folders in, and ten minutes of quiet choice — puzzles, drawing, or the class library.
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8:40
Morning meeting
The whole class on the carpet: calendar, a share, and the day's big question. Today's: how do we know the ravine creek is 'healthy'?
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9:00
Literacy block
Small-group phonics and guided reading with the classroom teacher and reading specialist. Every group meets every day.
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10:30
Snack & recess on the green
Twenty-five real minutes outside, in nearly all weather. Recess is protected time — we don't take it away as a consequence.
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11:00
Math workshop
Number talks first, then hands-on problem sets. Today it's measuring the classroom in creek-boot lengths, because standard units need a reason to exist.
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12:00
Lunch, family-style
Hot lunch is included in tuition and eaten at tables of eight with a teacher. Grade 5 students pour water for the JKs on their rota week.
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12:45
Spanish
Señor Herrera's puppet has lost his hat again, and the class must interrogate him about where he left it — entirely in Spanish, entirely serious.
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1:30
Outdoor Classroom
Half-day in the ravine: creek sampling with the science specialist, field journals, and the long uphill walk back that builds more than legs.
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3:30
Closing circle & dismissal
Three minutes to name one thing we noticed today. Extended day with clubs and quiet homework room runs to 5:30 for families who need it.
The Lower School signature
The Portfolio begins here
From JK, every Marlowe student keeps a Portfolio — work they're proud of, chosen by them, with a sentence about why. By Grade 5 they present it to their parents themselves. By Grade 12 it's the spine of their Senior Thesis.
“My daughter came home in October and asked if we could test our own creek. Not for homework — there was no homework. She just wanted to know.”
Considering Lower School?
An honest word about admissions
Lower School admissions is deliberately gentle: a play-based visit, not a test. We are looking for readiness and curiosity, never for reading before kindergarten.