Profile

History and Philosophy

The Jefferson School has come a long way since that day in September 1992, when nine kindergarten children entered a small building in Rehoboth Beach as part of an ambitious educational agenda. Through the years, we’ve diligently honored the ideas of those founding parents and educators and we stand firm in that philosophy today. We do so because we know that children learn while observing, listening and taking part in group play and projects while all of their senses are engaged. They also learn to understand their roles as global citizens while appreciating other peoples and culture through vigorous geographical and historical studies.

For these reasons we’ve created a school that:

  • Encourages personal relationships between teachers and students and among students who spend their time in classrooms with a low student-teacher ratio.
  • Promotes multi-aged classes that allow children to become more accepting of their strengths and challenges while learning from each other.
  • Values hands-on learning and the opportunities it provides for a total educational experience, including a child’s ability to think critically.
  • Advocates a developmental approach to education that respects the cognitive needs of children at each phase of their lives. This approach nurtures social and emotional growth as much as intellectual development and recognizes that children learn in different ways during different stages of their development.
  • Fosters a sense of community in which everyone interacts with responsibility, honesty and sensitivity to the needs and rights of others. This spirit inspires our children and parents to reach out to others in our community and across the world through various service learning projects.
  • Incorporates a global perspective into the year-round curriculum, allowing students to understand cultures with depth and clarity. Each year the entire school studies a different nation. In the past we’ve focused on Greece, Mexico, China and Australia. This year “our” country is Tanzania in East Africa.
  • Employs an integrated curriculum which allows teachers to blend different subjects into ongoing lessons and provides students an opportunity to understand the relevance of seemingly disparate pieces of a puzzle.
  • Develops curriculum that meets and exceeds the Delaware state standards and those set by other national educational professional associations.
  • Excels at cooperative learning to allow students to appreciate their strengths, assist their peers, share ideas, solve problems and learn to civilly disagree.
  • Teaches children to select materials and activities that will promote their academic success as part of a program of highly-individualized instruction.