Evaluation and Assessment

Our goal is to develop a nurturing environment, not an overly competitive one, so students do not receive letter or numerical grades until seventh grade. Students are evaluated three times each year during teacher/parent conferences. Parents receive written summaries detailing each child’s academic and social strengths and weaknesses. We do the first evaluation in October when teachers and parents meet to set goals for our students. At the second evaluation in February, new plans are made for the remainder of the year. During the final evaluation in June, parents and teachers discuss their students’ academic progress and note any areas to be addressed over the summer. Attendance at parent conferences is mandatory.

The Jefferson School’s founders saw the need for an innovative, independent school that teaches the whole student and respects the individual stages of child development. The goal then and now remains to create a caring community of learners that will benefit from positive relationships between a small number of adults and children. Not only do our students master information, they develop the more important critical skills of seeking, understanding and applying what they have learned to real-life experiences. We lead our students from concrete experiences to the abstract; this progression is carried throughout the school program. Students must be actively involved in the enriched environment that we provide. The “art of discovery” is highly valued at The Jefferson School. The teachers assist children in making those discoveries, but our classrooms are child-centered environments where students learn independently and from one another. The focal point in all of our classes is the integration of the individual child with the universe as a whole.