An Independent Boston Day School for Students in Toddler–Sixth Grade
Upper Elementary Capstone Experiences
From students’ first year in Upper Elementary, they have increasing responsibilities to take care of the classroom environments and one another. As students begin their early adolescent development, they are often provided a greater sense of independence, which also comes with additional, developmentally appropriate, responsibilities and challenges. As academic work moves from the concrete to the abstract, a greater sense of advocacy for individual learning styles and preferences becomes necessary. Not only are students encouraged to discuss their interests and level of learning, but are also guided to know what tools and scaffolds may be necessary to help them learn best.
Upper Elementary Capstone Experiences are multi‐faceted and build on skills obtained in lower grades; they provide opportunities for students to be leaders in many different ways. Students, across ages, have opportunities to be leaders both in small and large group settings. The multi‐aged classroom allows students to lead Morning Meetings, group work projects, and other activities while developing and practicing skills to be both an effective leader and group member on a daily basis. Upper Elementary students also have many opportunities throughout the year to lead school‐wide initiatives. Through these ventures, students not only practice being a leader but also model such skills to peers and younger students alike.
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Senior Project
Each Sixth Grader produces a Senior Project which is a five-month research project that encourages students to pursue a personal interest and practice their research, writing, and presentation skills in a final culminating experience. -
Mentors for Sixth Grade Students
Each graduating Sixth Grade student has a Mentor. The Mentors are selected from our highly qualified group of staff. The purpose of this program is to better share the many talents and experiences of Kingsley staff members as well as to provide our students with additional experiences to get to know themselves and to provide additional support in preparation for the middle and high school experiences on their horizon. We want to help students have a successful Sixth Grade year at Kingsley. Mentors try to get to know the “whole child” through contact with the child, his/her parents, and the teachers. Mentors work together with classroom teachers to make sure that the “team” around the student is working together to facilitate the student’s development in areas such as organization, problem-solving, learning skills, and understanding themselves better.