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Dear Lower School Families,

There are moments in a school year that seem to hold everything at once. A kindergartner and a fifth-grade buddy are leading Community Gathering together. A student takes a deep breath before speaking in front of classmates. A group of children testing, revising, and trying again when a design does not work the first time. The white dresses, flowers, music, and tradition of May Day. The small hand at drop-off in September that, by May, somehow feels a little more independent.

These are the moments that remind us what our Lower School is really about. It is not simply about moving children from one grade level to the next. It is about watching them become more confident readers, more flexible thinkers, kinder friends, braver problem-solvers, stronger public speakers, and more capable versions of themselves.

And this year, your children did just that.

As I look back on the year, I am proud of the visible moments of joy, but I am equally proud of the quiet work underneath them. Strong schools do not grow by accident. They grow through excellent teaching, careful reflection, and a shared commitment to asking, “What do our children need next?” This year, much of our work centered on strengthening the full Kindergarten through fifth-grade journey, ensuring students are safe, loved, and known while also being challenged to think deeply, take on hard things, collaborate with others, and discover that they are capable of more than they first imagined.

In the earliest years of Lower School, our work is to build a strong and wide foundation. In Kindergarten, first, and second grade, the most important job is to learn to decode, build fluency, gain number sense, explain thinking, ask questions, and love learning. This foundation matters because it gives children the tools they need to soar. And soar they did. This year, 100% of our second graders who began their elementary school journey at Tatnall are meeting or exceeding the end-of-year reading benchmark goals. This is important because second grade is a key moment before students move more from learning to read to reading to learn. 

We also see that the foundation continues to build as students move through the Lower School. In our ERB data, the Class of 2033, our current fifth graders, grew in verbal reasoning from 70% of students scoring at or above the norm in their third grade year to 88% in their fifth grade year, with the percentage of students scoring in the top quartile increasing from 25% to 46%. In quantitative reasoning, the same class grew from 62% at or above the norm to 92%, with students scoring in the top quartile increasing from 19% to 59%.

This is huge! Verbal and quantitative reasoning questions ask students to do more than recall what they have learned. They ask students to use logic, recognize patterns, make connections, think flexibly, and apply what they know in unfamiliar situations. That kind of growth shows students becoming stronger readers, more flexible mathematicians, and more confident thinkers. It shows that the work happening in classrooms each day is helping children reason, problem-solve, and prepare for the more complex learning that comes next.

Of course, the Lower School experience is not measured solely by data (although you know I love the data). Some of the most meaningful evidence of growth is found in the moments when children use their learning with purpose. This year, we saw that across every grade level. Kindergarten students connected reading, writing, and social studies through Career Day, learning from parent presenters and writing opinion pieces about the “best” job. First graders moved from decoding to greater fluency, vocabulary, stamina, and comprehension, ending the year with the chapter book The Chalk Box Kid and multi-page informative writing pieces. Second graders brought folktales to life through their puppet show, one of their signature Laureate Experiences, as they built puppets, memorized scripts, and presented for the Lower School and their families.

As students moved into grades three, four, and five, those foundational skills became even more important. Third graders engaged in signature experiences such as Influential People and Market Day, where reading, writing, social studies, math, innovation, and public speaking came together in authentic ways. Fourth graders explored early American history through Blood on the River, research and writing connected to Roanoke and Jamestown, and a March Madness-style study of influential early Americans. Fifth graders applied their learning through practical and deeply personal work, from calculating cost and pricing in their bake sale project to writing and presenting original “Abuelito Who” poems for family members and special guests.

These moments were joyful, but not easy. We asked your children to read closely, write clearly, calculate accurately, research thoughtfully, and speak confidently. We also asked them to be brave. To try again. To stand in front of others. To work with a partner. To apologize when needed. To lead. Our children were not asked to choose between joy and challenge; they were given both.

Working alongside your children is our faculty who are committed to thoughtful reflection, partnership, and careful alignment of the K-5 developmental arc. As we look ahead, one of our next priorities is completing and sharing our Lower School Curriculum Guide, which will provide a clearer window into how each year builds toward the next. We will continue using student learning data, classroom observations, faculty collaboration, and family feedback to celebrate areas of strength, identify growth opportunities, and make thoughtful decisions that serve our students well.

Your partnership is part of this story. Whether you attended a performance, helped with a classroom experience, encouraged reading at home, reinforced perseverance, or simply loved your child through the ups and downs of a school year, you helped strengthen the community around them.

When I return to the moments that began this letter, the kindergartner and fifth-grade buddy leading Community Gathering together, the student taking a deep breath before speaking in front of classmates, the flowers and music of May Day, and the small hand at drop-off growing more independent, I see this year’s Lower School story.

It is a story of children becoming.

They are becoming stronger readers and writers. More flexible mathematicians. More curious scientists and historians. More confident public speakers. More thoughtful friends. More creative problem-solvers. More independent learners.

That is the joyful pursuit of excellence. It is not one moment, one project, or one tradition. It is the steady, intentional work of helping children grow toward confidence, capability, and purpose.

Thank you for trusting us with your children, for partnering with us in their growth, and for being part of the Lower School community. It is a privilege to walk alongside your family in this joyful and important work.

Warmly,

Dr. Wagner